AS THE guests arrived for last night's NRL launch at a picturesque Birchgrove Oval, they were greeted by children playing league on the site of the first premiership match - and Cameron Smith promised them that the current players would do their best to preserve the game for their generation.
Following the shooting drama, which yesterday led to Parramatta standing down Jarryd Hayne, and other recent off-field incidents, Smith - Melbourne's grand final-winning captain and Australian skipper in last October's record Test defeat of New Zealand - used his speech to officially launch the centenary season to issue a subtle reminder to his peers about their obligation to the game.
"To be part of the game in this, its centenary season, is a special honour for every player in the game today, and we are very much aware of that," Smith told an audience that included St George Illawarra captain Mark Gasnier, who was with Hayne until just minutes before a drive-by shooter opened fire on the Eels star and teammates Weller Hauraki and Junior Paulo in Kings Cross at 4.20am on Monday.
"It's a reminder to us that we represent not only our hopes and dreams and those of today's fans, but that we have been lucky enough to inherit something that is truly great - the greatest game of all.
"On behalf of today's players, I would like to pay tribute to the champions who dug the well, and I offer our commitment that we will in turn do everything in our power to pass rugby league on to the next generation in even better shape than it is today."
While Gasnier was one of more than 30 leading players in attendance at the function, where guests feasted on three whole pigs cooked on the spit, and the NRL's new advertisement was played on a giant screen that featured the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop, Hayne was absent.
But there was no doubt he remains a favourite of the youngsters playing in the middle of the oval, with one hopeful autograph hunter mistaking Souths star recruit Craig Wing for him and calling to his mates: "Hey, there's Jarryd Hayne. Quick. Let's get him."
Quick to head off any suspicion, NRL marketing manager Paul Kind declared: "We're not paying any of these kids."
NRL chief executive David Gallop expressed confidence that league wouldn't have to in the future, either - despite the bold push by AFL into western Sydney.
"Back in 1907, there was a bold prediction out of Victoria that their sport would soon replace all others," Gallop said in his speech. "Sometimes it seems that not much has changed."
However, one thing that has changed is that they don't play league at grounds surrounded by picket fences - as Balmain and Western Suburbs did on April 20, 1908 - and there is no way now that such a prime piece of harbourside real estate would not have been developed.
"Tonight we literally stand in the footprints of our game's pioneers," Gallop said. "There is no doubt that they were humble yet courageous beginnings.
"Passion, determination and innovation have been the hallmarks of our game, and it is no fluke that others are looking to our key areas to attempt to grow their own games.
"But today our fans follow our game in record numbers, and at the core is the closeness of our competition and the genuine belief in each team's chances on any given day.
"I know we can be confident that our game is going to be bigger and better in 100 years' time."
With that, the season - which kicks off next Friday night with the match between South Sydney and the Roosters at the Olympic stadium and ends with the World Cup final in Brisbane on November 22 - was officially launched, and stars such as Storm five-eighth Greg Inglis got to see the NRL's centenary advertisement for the first time.
Wearing a pin with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags on it as a tribute to the recent Sorry Day, Inglis said he was honoured to feature in the advertisement.
Other guests at the launch included Sonny Bill Williams, Scott Prince, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Mundine, and Arthur Summons and Norm Provan - the two former greats immortalised by John O'Gready's famous photograph, which appeared in The Sun-Herald after the 1963 grand final.
