St George legend Norm Provan is a great but not of Immortal status, writes Phil Rothfield

PHIL Rothfield: League great Arthur Summons says it's a "disgrace" Norm Provan is not an Immortal. Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield disagrees.

NORM Provan already holds a special place in rugby league history, his image forever etched on the NRL grand final trophy.

But should he become an Immortal too and join legends Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, Johny Raper, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson and Andrew Johns?

His little mate Arthur Summons turned it into a public debate again on Thursday at the NRL grand final lunch, declaring Norm should be included and it was a "disgrace" that he hadn’t already been.

Provan played in 10 of St George's 11 straight premierships, four as captain-coach. He played a record 285 games for the club between 1951 and 1965, a record that was only broken in recent years by Ben Hornby.

He was obviously a wonderful second-rower and a great leader, but realistically the fourth or fifth best player in the superstar teams he played in.

His name and credentials were discussed when I was on a judging panel last year to name the eighth Immortal.

The panel included the living Immortals, super coach Wayne Bennett, ARLC chairman John Grant, Roy Masters, former Rugby League Week editors Ian Heads and Geoff Prenter, along with historian David Middleton.

Provan’s name came up. And he had his supporters in the room.

But the general opinion was that if he wasn’t included last time, why now?

He had been overlooked every time the judges sat down.

And not everyone can be an Immortal. The more you pick, the less exclusive it becomes.

If we were going to turn the clock back, what about another old champion like Ron Coote, in my opinion the best player I’ve seen outside the Immortals.

Or how about Mal Meninga or the recently-retired Darren Lockyer.

If I’m on the panel next time around, I won’t be turning the clock back to the 50s and 60s.

Norm is already recognised as one of the 100 greatest players of all time, he’s in the Team of the Century.

It’s time to move forward.

Meninga or Lockyer will be at the forefront. They were out and out champions.

And in the next decade we’ll have more greats to consider like current players Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis. Maybe even Billy Slater too.

Norm Provan’s record
-    Named in the second row in Australian Rugby League Team of the Century
-    Named in the the NSW Team of the Century
-    Appeared in 11 straight grand finals
-    Won 10 consecutive premierships
-    19 appearances for NSW
-    14 Tests for Australia
-    Inducted into Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame
-    Named on the list of Australia’s 100 Greatest Players