The excitement on former Australian player Peter Provan's face was palpable.

His smile extended to his eyes and he was fairly galloping to get to the sideline.

The captain of Balmain's 1969 premiership-winning side had not been to a rugby league field in years, his mind ravaged by the disease Lewy Body. But yesterday, out of his Cronulla nursing home and on the sideline of the Sydney Cricket Ground, valuable old memories came flooding back.

Provan, with the other captain from that special grand final, John Sattler, were the last recipients of the 200-person ball relay that had started at Birchgrove Oval - the birthplace of rugby league 100 years ago - and finished at the SCG, the home of many a fierce battle between South Sydney and the old Balmain.

"He was very proud and the honour was a wonderful acknowledgement to him," Provan's wife Carol said.

"He remembers more from 20 years ago than from more recent times, so he has been having a great time today."

Provan, 71, refused to be pushed in his wheelchair and Sattler and Provan's son Luke assisted him to the sideline amidst a loud reception from the crowd at yesterday's heritage-round clash between Souths and the Wests Tigers.

The man who handed Provan the ball was his brother, Norm Provan, one of the honoured members of the Team of the Century.

Wests Tigers captain Brett Hodgson wasn't born when the 1969 grand final was played, so would have no recollection of the stalling tactics involving fake injuries that Balmain coach Leo Nosworthy employed to disrupt the momentum of hot favourites South Sydney in that famous grand final 39 years ago.

Balmain went on to win 11-2, disrupting the Rabbitohs' dominance of the new limited-tackle game.

Yesterday when Tigers hooker Stuart Flanagan was felled after a collision with teammate Liam Fulton, old-timers reminisced with humour that perhaps coach Tim Sheens was employing the same go-slow strategies.

The Wests half of the new outfit has had some bitter feuds with the Rabbitohs, too, including the controversial 1952 grand final.

Hodgson said celebrating the game's centenary was very exciting and having the historical context was "wonderful for someone like me, with a few games under my belt".

Sheens joked that he was old enough to remember the days of playing in the sticky middle of football grounds, especially those with cricket wickets. He said he was going to go back into the dressing rooms to check if any of the players had a rash on their hips (from being driven into the cricket pitches).

Back in the Legends Room, the old players, famous and otherwise, were celebrating the gritty performance of Wests Tigers, who came from 10 points down to win comprehensively.

Keith Outten, the club's legendary halfback, recalled how he used to catch a bus and then walk from Central to get to the games at the SCG.

But they didn't need stories like that to reinforce how times have changed. All they had to do was look at South Sydney's position on the ladder: no wins from six matches. That never happened in the grand old days.