The NRL will announce its 14th Immortal on Wednesday night, with speculation centering on whether a past great like Ron Coote will be chosen or modern stars such as Cameron Smith or Darren Lockyer will receive the honour.
Lockyer was a frontrunner in 2017 when Rugby League Week was set to name a ninth Immortal, but the magazine closed and the NRL acquired the concept. In 2018, the NRL inducted Dally Messenger, Frank Burge, Dave Brown, Norm Provan, and Mal Meninga, breaking from the tradition of mostly honoring post-war players.
The Immortals concept began in 1981 with John Raper, Reg Gasnier, Bob Fulton, and Clive Churchill. Later inductees included Graeme Langlands and Wally Lewis (1999), Arthur Beetson (2003), and Andrew Johns (2012). The initial judges, Harry Bath, Frank Hyde, and Tom Goodman, set guidelines that players should be seen by judges, focusing on post-war players.
In 2012, Lockyer was considered for Immortal status but was ineligible due to a five-year retirement rule, now reduced to three years. Former RLW editor Martin Lenehan said in 2018 that Lockyer would have been a certainty in 2017. Lockyer himself said, “From my perspective, when I think of the guys that are already in there as Immortals the fact that I am even mentioned in the conversation is humbling.”
Lockyer also advocated for his former Broncos captain Allan Langer, saying, “I played a lot of footy with Alf and he just won so many games for us… I don’t think I’ve ever played with someone who had that same individual impact.” Other shortlisted players include Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Brad Fittler, Cameron Smith, and Ron Coote, a six-time premiership winner with South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs.
