NRL set to name rugby league’s next Immortal

ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys will kickstart the process around the naming of rugby league’s 14th Immortal. See every contender and vote for your selection.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys will prioritise top-level discussions around whether a 14th player should be inducted into the Immortals this year.

It would be a landmark decision for rugby league.

V’landys will recall an Immortals subcommittee before the rugby league caravan leaves for Las Vegas in a fortnight to determine whether the game should bestow another player with Immortal status.

It’s been six years since the last Immortals were named.

There would also be intense discussions around additions to rugby league’s Hall of Fame.

The Daily Telegraph kicked off robust debate around the next Immortal in November when an online poll revealed former Souths and Easts legend Ron Coote as a clear fan favourite.

Parramatta champion Brett Kenny also secured monstrous support with former Eels teammate David Liddiard saying: “Brett Kenny was a freak and genius. He was the most gifted player I’ve ever seen and must be the next Immortal.”

Other players certain to be discussed include Peter Sterling, Darren Lockyer, Steve Mortimer, Laurie Daley, Steve Rogers, Ken Irvine, Duncan Thompson, Arthur Halloway, Brad Clyde, Allan Langer, Glenn Lazarus, Ricky Stuart, Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, Graham Eadie, Brad Fittler, Greg Inglis, Mick Cronin and Ray Price.

“It’s on the priority list before Vegas,” V’landys said.

“The subcommittee met some time ago and I want to recall that committee to start the process. I will get that subcommittee back together again in the next couple of weeks to develop the criteria and the way we can move forward. There has already been a lot of work done.

“It’s up to the subcommittee to determine whether we need a new inductee, which we more than likely do, but it will be a process and likely to take months. If there is an Immortal put forward, it would be done this year. There is also the Hall of Fame.”

In the online poll, Coote pulled a whopping 26 per cent of the vote asking respondents to nominate the next Immortal.

Coote said: “I would love to be an Immortal.”

Sterling ran second on 14 per cent ahead of Lockyer (12 per cent) and Kenny (10 per cent). Queenslanders Langer and Thurston each secured 8 per cent of the vote.

Maroons champions Thurston and Slater are eligible given they have been retired for the mandatory five years.

NRL will look to name a 14th Immortal in 2024.

The NRL will also look at adding players to their 110-strong Hall of Fame. A player must be in the Hall of Fame before being considered for Immortal status.

The 13 Immortals are Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, John Raper, Graeme Langlands, Bob Fulton, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Andrew Johns, Dally Messenger, Dave Brown, Frank Burge, Norm Provan and Mal Meninga.

Brown, Burge, Meninga, Messenger and Provan were the last inducted in 2018. The three living Immortals are Johns, Lewis and Meninga.

Speaking about the chances of Kenny, Sterling, Cronin and Price, Eels boss Jim Sarantinos said in November: “At our club, we had one of the greatest teams in one of the greatest eras in the 115-year history of the game and it would be entirely appropriate for them to be recognised, or at the very least be in the front running for consideration of who will be anointed as the next Immortals.”