Gold Coast Titans played out of Carrara Stadium – the former home of defunct predecessors Gold Coast Chargers – during their admirable 2007 foundation season, before moving into the superb new facility at Robina for their sophomore NRL campaign.
A crowd of 26,974 packed into what was originally known as Skilled Park for the Titans’ 2008 season opener against North Queensland Cowboys. The home side christened the sparkling venue in style with a 36-18 victory over the previous year’s preliminary finalists.
Titans co-captain and Test prop Luke Bailey had the honour of scoring the maiden try at the ground, a steamrolling solo effort in the 11th minute. But it would be a virtually unknown 25-year-old winger on NRL debut who snatched the headlines in the historic encounter.
Born in Stanthorpe – Michael Hancock country – Atkins took the long route to the NRL, representing Australian Universities in 2004 before being recruited by the Titans on the back of a couple of strong seasons for Burleigh Bears.
Atkins crossed for a try in the 20th minute and added another less than five minutes later, a spectacular aerial effort from a Scott Prince cross-field kick where he planted the ball with centimetres to spare in midair and mid-tackle.
The newcomer’s third, from excellent lead-up work by centre Brett Delaney, gave the Titans a commanding 30-12 lead after 10 minutes of the second half. Some Prince wizardry in the latter stages made it a four-try haul for Atkins, while he could have had five if not for a forward pass call inside the last 30 seconds.
“I always dreamed of playing NRL but I never had any confidence,” Atkins said after his stunning introduction to rugby league’s big time.
“I never thought I was good enough – and I still have my doubts.
“(Coach) John Cartwright took a gamble on me and (trainer) Billy Johnstone has been a massive help. It’s just in the pre-season that I started to think I could make a real go of making first grade but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself either.
“They reckon it’s hard enough to play NRL but even harder to stay playing in the NRL.”
Atkins’ heroics fell one try short of the premiership record for most tries on first grade debut: South Sydney’s Don Manson scored five tries against University in 1937.
The performance matched the first-game efforts of Easts’ Johnno Stuntz (1908), Newtown’s Viv Farnsworth (1910), Canterbury’s Tony Nash (1942) and Parramatta’s Owen Stephens (1975).
“I didn’t have to do too much to score the four tries but I’m still upset with a few defensive errors that I made,” Atkins added modestly.
“There are still plenty of things for me to work on and hopefully in the next game I’ll be even better. I just don’t want to get a big head.”
Injuries interrupted Atkins’ rookie season, which would become a recurring theme for the athletic three-quarter. He ultimately played 42 NRL games after spending two years with Parramatta and returning to Gold Coast in 2013. Atkins retired following a one-season stint with London Broncos in 2014.
Atkins still co-holds the Titans’ club record for tries in a match (Alofiana Khan-Pereira equalled the mark in 2024), while Penrith’s Charlie Staines (2020) is the only player to subsequently score four tries on NRL debut.
