THERE are plenty of Bathurst residents out there who consider themselves trivia bosses, but can they tell you what huge rugby moments went down in the city in 1888?
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Across Bathurst's long and vast sporting history there are many moments that have gone down in local folklore, but there are others that aren't as well known.
So if you want to enhance your status as a quiz master, here are some moments in Bathurst sporting history to bank in the brain.
How is Bathurst linked to a piece of British rugby union history?
IF you cast your eye over the current Blowes Cup ladder, you'll see that the Bathurst Bulldogs are the undefeated frontrunners.
But before the Bulldogs were formed, before there was a Central West Rugby Union competition, a group of Bathurst players were involved in a very big sporting occasion.
In 1888 the Bathurst Football Club played two matches against the very first British Lions team which toured Australia. They did it at was then known as the Bathurst Cricket Ground and now called the Sportsground.
In their first clash on June 6, 1888, Bathurst provided tougher opposition than the tourists had predicted.
The Lions won 13-6 to make it two-from-two in Australia, but the Bathurst side showed plenty of heart.
The next morning the teams made their way to the ground on "decorated horse-drawn carriages" where "a large crowd nearing 2000 were present, many obtaining a better view by sitting or standing on their dry wagons, others lined the picket fence and the cycle track that circumvented the playing arena".
The rematch was another epic battle.
The Lions were in front 7-5 at half-time, but Bathurst scored first after the break and booted the conversion to take a three-point lead.
In the end the Lions emerged 10-point victors, but Bathurst showed it is a city to respect when it comes to rugby union.
Who played in the first game of rugby league in Bathurst?
ON April 26, 1913, Sydney clubs Souths and Norths played the first ever game of rugby league in the city at Bathurst Sportsground.
Souths won the exhibition match 23-19, with Bathurst's National Advocate reporting 1,500 spectators attended the contest which was 'keenly contested' and 'brilliant'.
It was a match which had Bathurst sports fans - who were more familiar with rugby union - captivated. The National Advocate article claimed the crowd 'were unanimous from every point of view that the league game is vastly superior to that of union'.
The opening try was scored by Souths fullback Howard Hallett, a talent who toured with the 1911-1912 Australasian Kangaroos. He also kicked three goals to put the red and greens out to a 9-0 lead.
For Norths, it was centre Jimmy Devereux who opened his side's account in Bathurst with a penalty to make it 9-2 at half-time.
Nicknamed 'muscles', Devereux played in Norths' inaugural season in 1908, he was a member of the first NSW Rugby League team, played in the first Trans Tasman Test and was the first Australian to score a try against Great Britain.
The second half produced eight tries (then worth three points each) and interestingly, one of Souths' try-scorers was winger Harold Horder, who went on to be a part of Norths' premiership sides in 1921-1922.
What joint world record does Bathurst soccer graduate Archie Thompson hold?
IT is common knowledge that Archie Thompson went on from his time playing for Bathurst '75 to become a member of the Socceroos line-up.
He played over 50 games for the national side, he helped the Socceroos qualify for a World Cup, he played in the Asian Cup and the Confederation Cup and Thompson also went to the Olympics.
But it was on April 11, 2001, that Thompson made history
Playing in a World Cup qualifier against American Samoa, Thompson scored 13 times as the Socceroos posted a 31-0 win.
"I didn't actually know that I'd scored 13 goals during the game," Thompson later admitted.
"It was an experience that I'll never forget and something I hold close to my heart."
It was an effort which saw him break the world record for most goals scored in an international match.
Thompson's first goal came in the 12th minute and others followed in the 23rd, 27th, 29th, 32nd, 37th, 42nd, 45th, 56th, 60th, 65th, 85th and 88th.
But what trivia buffs may not know either is that scoring frenzy also saw Thompson equal the world record for most goals scored in a recognised senior match.
His name sits alongside John Petrie who scored 13 goals in Arbroath's 36-0 win over Bon Accord in a Scottish Cup tournament in 1885.
Which non-professional Bathurst cyclists upstaged sprint star Caleb Ewan?
WHEN it comes to the ranks of professional road cycling, Aussie talent Caleb Ewan is a sprinter that commands respect.
He has won stages in the three biggest stage events in the world - the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
But in 2009 when Ewan came to the Central West to tackle the 70 kilometre Blayney to Bathurst short course event, he wasn't the one celebrating a victory.
Amongst the riders who beat out Ewan were four from Bathurst.
Ryan O'Donnell (1:51.45), Dan Watson (1:52.26), Stephen Bennett (1:52.26) and Dennis Martin (1:52.27) all beat home Ewan (1:56.01).
Yes, Ewan was only a 15-year-old back then, but those four Bathurst non-professional cyclists can still claim a win over one of Australia's finest sprinters.
How did Matt Naylor contribute to a historic hockey moment?
A LOT of people know that St Pat's hockey product Matt Naylor represented Australia in hockey.
He made his in debut in 2005 at the Hamburg Masters against the Netherlands and later that year was part of the Kookaburras outfit which won gold at the Champions Trophy.
But it was two years later in September 2007 that Naylor contributed to what at the time was a national record.
Naylor bagged eight goals in a 35-0 flogging of Papua New Guinea on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in their Oceania Cup opener.
Naylor's swag included the first and last goals. He struck via a penalty corner drag flick in the third minute and netted his last in the final minutes.
That record stood until October 2015 when the Kookaburras beat Samoa 36-0.
What current Australian tennis star once made two finals at the Bathurst Junior Open?
THE Bathurst Tennis Centre has played host to a number of Australia's best juniors over the years, but perhaps the biggest name turned up in 2009.
He'd only started playing tennis a year earlier at the age of 13 and at the Bathurst Junior Open, was the top seed in the under 18s singles.
He went on to finish runner-up in the singles final, winning the first set 6-1, but dropping the next two 6-3, 6-3.
He also paired with Penrith junior Jay Andrijic to win the under 16 boys doubles.
So who was it? It was Nick Kyrgios.
What does Ashleigh Corby have in common with two of Australia's female cricket mega stars?
ASH Corby is a Bathurst resident who's well known in sporting circles - she's shone in hockey, in CrossFit and in triathlon.
But during her teenage years Corby was also one of the state's most gifted school girl cricketers too.
She was good with the bat and good keeping wickets. That's how Corby shared an honour with a duo that are now part of the all-conquering Australian Women's Cricket team.
In 2006 after skippering the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges side to the final of the NSW Schoolgirls Cricket Championships in Bathurst, Corby was named in the honours team.
Corby earned her spot after scoring a brilliant 71 not out from 119 balls in the final.
There alongside her in that honours side were Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry.
Healy and Perry were part of the NSW CHS1 team which beat Corby's side in the decider at Bathurst Sportsground.
Healy, now Australia's wicket-keeper and a damaging opener, belted 92 off just 59 balls on that afternoon in Bathurst.
As for Perry, one of Australia's greatest all-rounders, she took 4-22 off 10 overs in the final. Earlier in the week she also cracked an unbeaten 99 from 119 balls at Morse Park.
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