Why should NRL stick to two Immortals if the greats deserve to be recognised?
GORDEN TALLIS: It was an overwhelming honour to join the NRL’s Hall of Fame this week — and I reckon the decision to name five Immortals was the right one. So if the rule can be broken, why should we stick to it from now on?
Opinion
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THE NRL got it right with the Immortals on Wednesday.
While the decision to induct three pre-War players and two post-War players did come as a surprise, the judges made the right call.
And I think that in the future, the NRL and the judging panel should continue to trust their gut instincts.
I don’t think there should be a set rule that two Immortals will be inducted every four years.
It should be based on who is nominated and what their credentials are.
If no one deserves to go in, no one deserves to go in and it should be that simple.
But if Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston all end up nominated in the same year, then why shouldn’t all three go in at once?
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The game can be criticised a lot but they have to realise they got it right on Wednesday night and they should not make too many hard and fast rules around the Immortals concept if they want it to continue to succeed.
I don’t really want to get into the debate of who goes in and who doesn’t, but I do believe there are some players missing from my generation who should at least come into consideration next time.
For me, the three that I played with who should go in are Allan Langer, Bradley Clyde and Glenn Lazarus.
Slater, Smith and Thurston come in after that.
Darren Lockyer is already in the conversation and he deserves to be crowned an Immortal at some point too.
Those seven guys are all worthy of being in there and I don’t think any of them should be left out just because of certain rules.
What the NRL did for those pre-War players was the right move.
And in years to come, I want my grandkids to know that the Smiths, Slaters and Thurstons of the game belong there too.
What those three guys have done for the game is unbelievable and it would be a shame if any of them had to miss out, just like it would have been a shame if Dally Messenger, Dave Brown or Frank Burge had missed out.
I didn’t realise how big the Immortals or Hall of Fame was until I was there.
When Mal Meninga was announced as one of the post-War Immortals, you could see how shocked he was.
We had breakfast together the next morning and he truly couldn’t believe they said his name.
To watch one of the men that you’ve admired for so long react like that and see what it meant to him, it hit home how special the night was.
I was there to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and walking into the SCG, bumping into the legends of the game, it was a really overwhelming moment.
And everyone had similar people to thank — their families.
To get where we are in this game, it means our parents have sacrificed a lot and given us the foundation to achieve our dreams and goals.
For me, all I ever wanted to do when I played was to make my mum and dad proud.
When I stood up there, I thought of the people who helped me along the way.
I can’t thank them all, but hopefully they feel part of it too.
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