Bravo to you, Ron Coote, but this Immortals-mania needs to slow down

Rugby league faces an interesting problem regarding the whole Immortals thing.

That is, despite the wonderful honour of being anointed as an Immortal going to the great Ron Coote this week, there is no way around it: Every time they add another Immortal, they dilute the original brilliant concept.

In the beginning, when Rugby League Week was the bible of the game and dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were just four players accorded the honour by the magazine: Clive Churchill, Johnny Raper, Reg Gasnier and Bob Fulton.

Since then, another 10 players have been added, six of whom had completed their careers when the original concept was launched – which effectively overruled the original judgement, and changed its definition.

None of this is to diminish the honour accorded Coote who, beyond being a great player, has been a wonderful ambassador for the game in his post-playing career.

It is just to note that the longer it goes, and the more who are added – particularly from the time before the original judgement – the less exclusive the tag becomes.

Though there is no parallel between the ability and valour shown on the battlefield and that on a football ground, it is the rough equivalent of those who seek to give Victoria Crosses to demonstrably great soldiers many decades after the event – often based on new information.

Ron Coote is rugby league’s 14th Immortal.Credit: NRL Photos

In the end, it is too hard. If you don’t go with the judgement of those on the ground at the time, there will be no end of agitation for more to be added, and you diminish the lustre of the original VCs accorded.

The way around this for rugby league? There isn’t one now.

From the moment they expanded the original arbitrary list, it was inevitable that the list must grow, and the less of a distinction there will be between being in the equally arbitrary Hall of Fame and being an Immortal.

With their time over, the way would have been to only revisit it once every decade, at which point just one more player would be added from latter eras. As it is, it remains a great honour – just not quite the equal of the original one.

They’re back? Who asked for that?

The Commonwealth Games being resuscitated?

As you’ll recall, they died a slightly unnatural death last year when the Dan Andrews government of Victoria announced they couldn’t be bothered hosting them in 2026 after all, and most people, went “Meh, as you like.”

Nevertheless, this week Commonwealth Sport President Chris Jenkins cited the colossal success of the Paris Olympics as a reason to reboot them. The latest talk is that a slimmed-down version might be held in Glasgow. Look, how do I put this?

Lawn bowls at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.Credit: Paul Harris

Can I start with “No”. Though there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come, there is equally nothing quite so truly dead as an idea whose time is long gone. And a jumped-up school carnival for alumni of the British Empire certainly fits that.

See, there were very good reasons the Olympics were so fantastic.

One was the sheer beauty of Paris itself, just as cities like Barcelona, Sydney, Athens, London, Rio and Tokyo give the Games a global grandeur that the likes of Manchester, Birmingham, the Gold Coast and Glasgow can’t get close to.

The second reason was the incredible level of sport due, again, to it being a genuinely global competition And finally, a clue lies in the last Commonwealth Games medal table from 2022, held . . . somewhere or other. (Honestly, can you even remember?)

Anyhoo, in that one, 72 nations competed for 876 medals and 43 won one. The top five of Australia, England, Canada, India and Scotland won 64 per cent of the available medals. Booooooring!

In the Paris Olympics though, the top five of USA, China, GB, France and Australia won 38 per cent of the available medals while 91 nations won one. One of the many reasons that the Commonwealth Games just don’t work anymore is because they’re just not genuinely competitive enough.

Oi, BBC. That 1977 Test is ours.

M’Lords of the MCC, a point of order.

It’s a sad day, indeed, when such a once-trusted source as the BBC is reporting nonsense on the subject of Australia’s sporting supremacy, and we call on you to formally advise them of their error.

Dennis Lillee is celebrated after taking 11 wickets in the 1977 Centenary Test.Credit: Fairfax

See, in the early hours of Monday morning last, one of my most trusted Fitzphiles, Don Firth, was listening to the Beeb’s World Service when it noted that a Test match between Australia and England is planned for 2027 to celebrate 150 years since the very first Test.

The report then said that Australia won in 1877 by 45 runs, but in 1977 England won by the same margin, thus levelling us at one-all. Don nearly fell out of his bed! So did we, when we heard it.

For, as you of the MCC know only too well, just one part of that report is right. The margin of victory in 1977 was, remarkably, the same as in 1877. But the winner didn’t change either!

It was Australia. We are two victories to the good and you are zippety-do-da, zippity-day, toorali-orali-addity, toorali-oolari-ai, bound for Botany Bay.

And don’t you forget it!

Great illustrator, better person: Go well, Shakes

Sad news. My friend and yours, John Shakespeare, who has been doing illustrations at the Herald for the better part of the last four decades, is signing off . . . today. As great an artist that he is, he is a better man and has always stood out as a gentle, selfless soul, always with a quiet smile, an endlessly cheery presence in whatever room he entered. So here is my request to you, John, on your last day. How about a self-portrait on your last day at the mighty Herald? I’ll back-announce, and you come out from behind the curtain to give us your farewell, image.

Final curtain: Onya, Shakes.Credit: John Shakespeare

Friends, please give it up for . . . JOHN SHAKESPEARE!

Onya, Johnny. You will be missed.

What They Said

South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs premiership-winning player Ron Coote on being announced as the 14th rugby league Immortal: “I am a bit taken for words at the moment. I never thought I’d be crying when I was 80.”

Nick Kyrgios, on an Instagram post: “I know it’s been a long time, but my body is finally ready to get back out there and have some fun. I will see if I’m still able to go up against some of the best players in the world starting off with my old rival Casper Ruud. Casper, please take it easy on me. I can’t wait to be out there again competing in front of all the amazing fans and hopefully I can still bring some life to the sport.”

Trainer Peter Moody on Black Caviar who passed away a day before her 18th birthday: “At the stables and at the races, she was all business and you didn’t want to be messing with her. At home, it was like you flicked the switch, and she was like a big teddy bear.” On Saturdays, she liked watching re-runs of Mr Ed, and on Sundays putting her legs up and having a nap after lunch.

More Moody. “When she won her 13th race in Brisbane I actually stupidly said to Sarah my wife, ‘I can’t wait for her to get beat so it just becomes normal’. What a stupid thing to say, because it had built up that much. But that was where the pressure level was.” Who thinks Black Caviar sensed the pressure?

Chair of Queensland Cricket Kirsten Pike and Queensland Cricket chief executive Terry Svenson penned an open letter confirming Brisbane would not host Test cricket in 2026/27, a first since 1976/77: “It is deeply disappointing that the 2026/27 Gabba Test has become a casualty of the uncertainty around the infrastructure planning and development ahead of the 2032 Olympic preparations, specifically around the Gabba.”

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou after the first game of the season: “We do everything to score goals and we didn’t score. The dominance is great but if you don’t score it is meaningless. We have to be stronger in our mindset in the front third. To be that wasteful tonight is disappointing. We just weren’t clinical.”

Matt Richardson will soon race for Great Britain.Credit: Getty

Australian cyclist Matt Richardson, who won three medals for Australia at the Paris Olympics, has switched nationality and will now represent the land of his birth and early years, Great Britain: “I expect a bit of a backlash. Like I said, I owe Cycling Australia so much. They gave me the opportunity to compete on the international stage. But for me, this is about chasing my dream.” No backlash, unless you are a cricketer, in which case you could rot in hell. But this? Nah, go well.

Phil Gould on Latrell Mitchell: “Latrell’s a grown man. He’s not a boy anymore, he’s not a rookie and that’s just an excuse to say, ‘if Wayne [Bennett] comes, I’ll behave myself’. Well what if Wayne doesn’t come? Does that mean you’re going to keep doing what you’re doing? You’ve got take accountability for your own actions.”

Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, a former high school football coach at the Democratic National Conventions, channels a little of Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday: “It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. We’ve got the ball, the right team, Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready. Our job . . . for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling, one inch at a time, one yard at a time, one phone call at a time, one door knock at a time, one $5 donation at a time.”

Team of the Week

Ron Coote. The legendary South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs premiership-winning player was announced on Wednesday night as the 14th rugby league Immortal.

West Tigers. Had a huge upset victory over Manly on Thursday evening at Leichhardt Oval. The Eels are now firming to be wooden spooners.

Swans and GWS. Both made it to the finals again. Let’s hope it is not an all Sydney grand final, as that would get right up the noses of our Melbourne cousins.

Kasia Niewiadoma. Won the 2024 women’s Tour de France by four seconds, the narrowest margin in the history of either the women’s or men’s race.

Black Caviar. The famed horse passed away. In 2012, she was named “sportswoman of the year” by one newspaper, controversially beating out a human Olympic hurdling champion, Sally Pearson.

X/Twitter: @Peter_Fitz

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