NRL Immortal: Kevin Walters leads push to bestow rugby league’s highest honour upon Allan Langer
Kevin Walters claims a NSW conspiracy robbed Allan Langer of already being declared an NRL Immortal and that now is the time to rectify the injustice.
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Queensland Origin and Broncos legend Allan Langer must be rugby league’s next Immortal.
That is the view of his premiership partner-in-crime Kevin Walters with the Broncos coach calling for his great mate ‘Alfie’ to be elevated to rugby league’s most illustrious club.
And the push for Langer has the backing of Dolphins supercoach Wayne Bennett, who regards the playmaking legend as the greatest Bronco of all.
The NRL on Thursday announced plans to unveil the code’s 14th Immortal at a Hall of Fame dinner next month, with a change in eligibility rules opening the door for Storm legend Cameron Smith to be considered.
Walters was Queensland coach in Smith’s final year as a Maroon in 2017, but the Broncos mentor says Langer, now his assistant at Brisbane, deserves the code’s ultimate accolade.
“It is pretty clear in my head that Allan Langer is very much underrated as far as elite players go and Immortal players,” Walters said.
“There is nothing he didn’t do on the field for the Broncos, whether it was captaining the club to four premierships or captaining Queensland to series wins or for Australia.
“But my opinion doesn’t go far these days.
“He was the money man.
“That was a thing among all the players at the Broncos through that era.
“A lot of us would go to the bank and put our card in and there was no money coming out, but Alfie always has something, particularly late in games.
“When he went to the machine there was always something coming out which I can remember so clearly.
“They have got a statue of him (at Suncorp Stadium) ... all they have got to do now is make him Immortal.”
The last induction occurred in 2018. Five players - Dave Brown, Frank Burge, Mal Meninga, Dally Messenger, and Norm Provan - were chosen from a 10-man list that also included Brian Bevan, Duncan Hall, Ken Irvine, Ron Coote and Darren Lockyer.
Langer was not on the list then, but his resume is remarkable.
He won four premierships (twice as many as current halfback Immortal Andrew Johns), scored 100 tries from 258 games for the Broncos, played 25 Tests for Australia and 34 Origin matches for Queensland, winning seven series across a 15-year span.
Brisbane’s Little Master was Dally M halfback of the year three times, the Clive Churchill Medallist in 1992 and won the prestigious Dally M Medal as the code’s No.1 player in 1996.
Walters says he was always amazed by Langer’s ability to dominate in the land of the NRL giants despite standing just 165cm - a staggering 12cm shorter than current Broncos superstar Reece Walsh.
Walters believes Lockyer, Brisbane’s most-capped player with 355 appearances, is another strong contender, but is adamant Langer is in a league of his own.
“Locky would be another one but I have got Alf in front of Locky at this stage,” he said.
“I am not saying Locky can’t be an Immortal in the future but right now Alfie is the one.
“Cameron, JT and Billy have only just recently retired. We’ve got to go back to the future.”
Walters believes Ipswich product Langer has been overlooked in the past because of his reluctance to trumpet his achievements.
“It is just Alf’s humility more than anything else,” he said.
“Alfie brings people together and he brings the game together, so many more things than what he does on the field.
“Off the field he is a terrific person as well. I am sticking up for my mate but not just that. If you ask a lot of people their thoughts, the fans, I am sure Alfie would be right up there.
“Two things (made him great). His unpredictability on the field. Sometimes Alfie didn’t know what Alfie was doing but it just seemed to work.
“And just the size of him. I think he was 67 kilograms in his first State of Origin game (in 1987) and most of that was all ticker.
“For the size of him I think he achieved enormous things.
“It was not just the size of him but his mental strength and his capacity to want to win in his career. That is why I put him up so high.”
Speaking on the Immortals concept in 2018 before the last intake, Bennett is adamant Langer would be an Immortal if he was from NSW.
“I believe he is the best Bronco and the most influential player in my time here,” Bennett told NRL.com at the time.
“He was a star for a decade. In my opinion, he was the best player in the game for a decade.
“He gave his best every weekend.
“’Joey’ Johns started to come on the scene through the middle 1990s and he had the NSW push behind him.
“Joey was a wonderful player. It was just that Alf got lost in it all ... but if he’d been down in NSW, Alf would have been Immortalised, there is no doubt about that.”
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Originally published as NRL Immortal: Kevin Walters leads push to bestow rugby league’s highest honour upon Allan Langer
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