Mark Nicholls (rugby league)

Mark Nicholls (born 5 January 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League.

Mark Nicholls
Nicholls playing for the Mount Pritchard Mounties
Nicholls in 2013
Personal information
Full nameMark Robert Nicholls
Born (1990-01-05) 5 January 1990
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Height194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight104 kg (16 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012–15 Canberra Raiders 19 1 0 0 4
2016–17 Melbourne Storm 9 0 0 0 0
2018–22 South Sydney 100 6 0 0 24
2023– Dolphins[1] 8 2 0 0 8
Total 136 9 0 0 36
Source: [2]
As of 23 April 2023

He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Melbourne Storm and the Canberra Raiders in the NRL.

Background

Nicholls was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the Leeton Greenies and Gungahlin Bulls, before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.

Playing career

Early career

From 2008 to 2010, Nicholls played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team.[3][4] In October 2010, he played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis.[5]

Canberra Raiders (2012-2015)

In round 17 of the 2012 NRL season, Nicholls made his NRL debut for the Raiders against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[6] He went on to play 12 consecutive games that year, coming off the bench as a prop.[7][8]

Nicholls playing for the Raiders

(2013)

On 25 April, Nicholls re-signed with Canberra on a two-year contract.[9]

(2014)

On 9 July, Nicholls played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents.[10]

(2015)

On 6 October, Nicholls signed a one-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2016.[11][12]

Melbourne Storm (2016-2017)

On 1 February, Nicholls was named in the Storm's 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad but did not appear for Melbourne in the 2016 NRL season.[13][14]

(2017)

Nicholls was named in the Storm squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines.[15]

He made his Melbourne debut against the Penrith Panthers in round 5 of the 2017 NRL season. He made a total of nine appearances for Melbourne as the club won the Minor Premiership and the premiership itself defeating North Queensland in the 2017 NRL Grand Final.[16]


South Sydney Rabbitohs (2018-2022)

Nicholls made his South Sydney debut in round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, starting at prop in South Sydney's 32–20 loss to the New Zealand Warriors. He made a total of 12 appearances for South Sydney that season.

(2019)

Nicholls made a total of 24 appearances for South Sydney in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Nicholls played in all three of the club's finals games including South Sydney's preliminary final loss against his former club Canberra.[17][18][19][20]

(2020)

In round 10 of the 2020 NRL season, he scored his first try for South Sydney in their 20–18 loss to Newcastle at Bankwest Stadium.[21]

He made a total 19 appearances for Souths and played in all three of the club's finals matches including the preliminary final loss to Penrith.[22]

(2021)

In round 24 of the 2021 NRL season, Nicholls scored two tries for South Sydney in a 52-12 victory over arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters.[23] In round 25, he was named captain for the match against St. George Illawarra, after South Sydney chose to rest Adam Reynolds in the lead up to the finals.

Nicholls played a total of 27 games for South Sydney in the 2021 NRL season including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final defeat against Penrith.[24]

(2022)

Nicholls played 18 games for South Sydney and scored one try in the 2022 NRL season including all three of the clubs finals matches as they reached the preliminary final for a fifth straight season. Souths lost the preliminary final 12-32 to eventual premiers Penrith.[25]

Dolphins (2023-present)

In January 2022, Nicholls signed a two-year deal with the Dolphins from 2023 onwards.[26] He made his club debut for the inaugural Dolphins team in round 1 of the 2023 NRL season, scoring a try as the new team pulled off a big upset defeating the Sydney Roosters 28-18 at Suncorp Stadium.[27] In round 6, Nicholls captained the Dolphins in their 32-22 win against the North Queensland Cowboys at Queensland Country Bank Stadium due to regular captain Jesse Bromwich missing the game because of a throat infection.[28]

In round 8, Nicholls scored a try for the Dolphins in their 28-26 victory over the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium.[29] During that match, he broke a thumb and subsequently underwent surgery to stabilise the joint, rendering him unfit to play for the next few weeks.[30]

Further information: 2023 Dolphins season
Further information: List of Dolphins (NRL) players

Statistics
Season Team Games Tries Pts
2012 Canberra Raiders 12 1 4
2013 2
2015 5
2017 Melbourne Storm 9
2018 South Sydney 12
2019 24
2020 19 2 8
2021 27 3 12
2022 18 1 4
2023* Dolphins 8 2 8
Totals 136 9 36

*denotes season still competing

References
  1. https://www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/news/2023/04/28/dolphins-casualty-ward/
  2. "Mark Nicholls - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 5 January 1990. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  3. "N". NYC DATABASE. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  4. Jean, David (17 March 2009). "Dream green start just out of reach". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  5. "Junior Kangaroos team named". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  6. Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (19 August 2015). "NRL 2012". Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  7. Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (1 September 2015). "Custom Match List". Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  8. "Mark Nicholls Player Review". www.raiders.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.}
  9. "Mark Nicholls re-signs until the end of 2015". NRL - Zero Tackle. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  10. NRL (July 2014). "VB NSW Cup Representative Side - Team Announcement". NSWRL. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  11. "Storm announce four key signings | NRL". Zero Tackle. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  12. "STORM SIGN RAIDER". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  13. "Storm name youthful Nines squad". NRL.com. February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  14. "2016 Downer NRL Auckland Nines Official Squads". NRL. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  15. "2017 Auckland Nines squads: Every player named for the tournament". The Roar. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  16. "NRL: Melbourne Storm defence holds out Penrith Panthers". The Examiner. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  17. "South Sydney Rabbitohs beat Manly Sea Eagles 34-26 in NRL semi-final". ABC. 20 September 2019.
  18. "Rabbitohs dig deep to eliminate Sea Eagles in finals thriller". NRL. 20 September 2019.
  19. "Canberra Raiders end 25-year wait to reach NRL grand final with victory over Rabbitohs". The Guardian. 27 September 2019.
  20. "South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett confirms major changes for Sydney Roosters final". Sporting News.
  21. "South Sydney v Newcastle". www.foxsports.com. 18 July 2020.
  22. "Penrith Panthers beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-16 to set up NRL grand final against Melbourne Storm". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 October 2020.
  23. "'Might decimate both teams': Latrell faces big ban for 'enormous' high shot on Manu". www.foxsports.com.au. 28 August 2021.
  24. "One of finest NRL grand finals of all time provides cure to difficult season". www.theguardian.com. 3 October 2021.
  25. "Penrith Panthers defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-12 to qualify for third straight NRL grand final". www.abc.net.au.
  26. "Dolphins set to poach Souths fan favourite Mark Nicholls on multi-year deal: Transfer Whispers". www.foxsports.com.au. 21 January 2022.
  27. "'I don't want to take the gloss off... but': Kenty's warning for Dolphins after historic first-up win". www.foxsports.com.au.
  28. https://www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/news/2023/04/07/final-team-bromwich-out-nicholls-to-skipper
  29. https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2023/round-8/dolphins-v-titans/?fbclid=IwAR1r_trCDWVlkabtM-OTZkywJH0G20Oj8MufA8zPweGqE37TCRdl2Qjb_8c/
  30. https://www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/news/2023/04/28/dolphins-casualty-ward/
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