Messenger and Brown enter the Immortals race
Author: Brad Walter, Senior Reporter
Timestamp: Mon 19 Mar 2018, 12:00 PM
Dally Messenger or Darren Lockyer? Dave Brown or Mal Meninga? And what about Norm Provan?
Those are questions which are set to be debated until the next Immortals are inducted at the end of the Telstra Premiership season after the NRL introduced new initiatives to acknowledge the 110-year history of the game.
For the first time since the establishment of the Immortals concept in 1981, players from the pre-World War II era will be considered - meaning the feats of Messenger and Brown will be compared to those of Lockyer, Meninga, Provan and another 87 eligible players.
The Immortals re-launch has occurred after the NRL acquired ownership of Rugby League Week following the closure of the magazine last year.
With the game also taking control of the Dally M awards there are now three tiers of recognition for the achievements of the game’s best players:
- Dally M Medal, for a season of excellence;
- NRL Hall of Fame, acknowledging excellence across a career; and
- Immortals, recognising players who transcend generations.
NRL Awards Manager Frank Puletua has spent 12 months establishing a process and rules that ensure the game's history will be celebrated more regularly and with greater integrity than in the past.
From this season, up to two Immortals will be selected every four years and those players will be nominated from the Hall of Fame, which currently comprises the 100 players inducted during the game's centenary celebrations in 1908.
Eight of those players – Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, John Raper (all 1981), Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis (both 1999), Arthur Beetson (2003) and Andrew Johns (2012) – have already been given Immortals status, leaving 92 eligible for consideration this year.
To be chosen as an Immortal is the greatest honour a player can receive and it is widely considered that to earn the accolade a player needs to have changed the game or had an impact beyond his career.
In addition, a further six players will be inducted to the Hall of Fame from a short list of 25 to be announced next month, which is likely to include some players who were ineligible in 2008 as they were still either playing or hadn't been retired for five years.
Current superstars such as Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith cannot be considered for nomination as Immortals before 2025 as they will not have been retired for five years when the next nominations are made in 2021.
However, they may be eligible for inclusion in the Hall of Fame before then as up to four new inductees will be selected every year.
There will also be Hall of Fame categories for coaches, referees and contributors, such as administrators, commentators and journalists.
Among those likely to come under consideration as contributors are JJ Giltinan, Jersey Flegg, Ken Arthurson, John Quayle, Frank Hyde and Rex Mossop.
A screening committee will choose five players to be considered as Immortals and a voting panel will select a minimum of one and a maximum of two.
Players who make the shortlist of five but are not chosen as Immortals can be considered again in a further two Immortals Years before no longer being ineligible.
The most difficult task with comparing players of different eras is that no one on the selection panel is old enough to have seen the likes of Messenger or Brown play but it was felt that to fully recognise the game’s history they need to be considered.
Messenger’s greatness is already acknowledged by the naming of the Dally M awards in his honour, and his defection from rugby union is considered vital to the success of the code.
Nicknamed “The Master”, Messenger went on the New Zealand All Golds tour of Britain in 1907 as a guest player and returned to be the star of the inaugural NSWRL competition the following season and until his retirement in 1913 after leading Eastern Suburbs to a third premiership.
Brown also played in the centres for the Roosters and was known as the Bradman of rugby league because of the point scoring records he set between 1930 and 1941, some of which still stand today.
Among them are his haul of 38 tries in 1935, which is even more remarkable considering Brown played just 15 games for Roosters that season and he achieved the feat during an era of unlimited tackles and a one-metre offside rule.
He also kicked a record 15 goals in a match, which was part of a 45-point haul, including five tries, against Canterbury and led the Roosters to premierships in 1935 and 1936, while captaining Australia at the age of just 22.
