The NRL have confirmed they will name another Immortal in August, and reports have already jumped to the conclusion that Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston are in the mix.
That comes with the NRL altering the rules, allowing players to be addmitted to the Hall of Fame just three years after their retirement.
There is little doubt that Smith and Thurston will be among the group of players added to the Hall of Fame at the ceremony, with a fair chance Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk will join them.
But the NRL simply can not admit any of those players as Immortals yet. The Immortals concept is supposed to recognise the greatest players in the history of the game, and while there is little doubt those players are going to be there one day, now would be too soon.
They were widely panned for adding Andrew Johns too early back in 2012, and can’t afford to make the same mistake here, particularly given the number of other candidates who should be considered from previous generations, including one of Johns’ great rivals.
Here are ten players the NRL should be considering for the next Immortal spot.
Ken Irvine
Ken Irvine has, for 50 years, been the only player to have scored 200 top-flight tries.
The 212 tries he finished with is likely to be a record challenged by Alex Johnston in the coming years, but his career wasn’t just about scoring tries.
The winger, who played 236 top-flight games across his time with the North Sydney Bears and Manly Sea Eagles, played 24 State of Origins (or Interstate Challenge matches as they were known at that point) for the New South Wales Blues, scoring 30 tries and 31 Tests for Australia, scoring 33 tries.
No one has come close to his exploits in finding the try line for the last five decades, with Irvine being named in the NRL‘s Team of the Century, Australian Rugby League‘s Team of the Century, and the New South Wales Rugby League Team of the century in 2008. He was also part of the NRL‘s Team of the 1950s and 1960s.
He was also named number 15 in Rugby League Week’s Top 100 players in 1992 and won two premierships during his career.
Ray Price
A hard-hitting forward who had was part of the Parramatta Eels‘ golden era, Price played in all four of the club’s premierships during 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986.
One of the few forwards to win the Dally M Medal, Price did just that in 1982, while he was also named the Rugby League Week Player of the Year in 1979 and 1985.
Named Dally M lock of the year on five occasions throughout his career, Price played 259 games for the Eels, to go with 15 State of Origins and 22 Test matches for Australia.
He is part of the NRL‘s team of the 1980s and was named number 52 in Rugby League Week’s top 100 players in 1992.
Terry Lamb
Lamb will go down as one of the Bulldogs’ greatest-ever players.
A legend of the Belmore-based side, Lamb started his career at Western Suburbs in 1980, playing 88 games for the club before shifting to the Bulldogs in 1984.
There he would go on to play 262 game through to the end of 1996, playing eight Origins and seven Tests. Unlucky not to play more representative rugby league, Lamb won the competition with the Bulldogs in 1984, 1988 and 1995, while also taking out the Dally M Medal in 1983.
He was a seven-time Dally M five-eighth of the year in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992 and 1993, and scored a staggering 164 tries throughout his 350-game top-flight career.
Laurie Daley
A gifted and versatile star, Daley was a one-club player throughout his career, playing 244 games for the Canberra Raiders between 1987 and 2000.
A three-time premiership winner with the Green Machine in 1989, 1990 and 1994, he was the star of the show during the club’s biggest run of dominance.
Daley took out the Dally M Medal in 1995, and was named Rugby League Week’s player of the year in the same season, while he took out the Dally M five-eighth of the year on back-to-back occasions in 1995 and 1996.
Named to the NRL‘s team of the 1990s, he was named at number 49 in the Rugby League Week’s top 100 players in 1992 and added to his club career with 23 State of Origins for New South Wales, and 21 Tests for Australia.
Ron Coote
A star of the 1960s and 70s, Coote played 257 top flight games between 1964 and 1978, splitting his career between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.
A forward who could find the tryline, scoring 87, he played 15 matches for New South Wales and 23 Tests for Australia where he also scored 13 tries.
At club level, he was a six-time premiership winner, in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974 and 1975, while he was also named the NSWRL player of the year in 1969, 1970, 1975 and 1977.
A member of the Australian Rugby League and New South Wales Team of the Century, he was also named to the NRL‘s team of the 1960s and 1970s.
He also captained Australia on three occasions.
Allan Langer
One of the most gifted players to have ever laced up a boot, Langer had a storied career that saw him play 258 games for the Brisbane Broncos, 34 State of Origins for Queensland and 24 Tests for Australia.
Currently working as a trainer for the Brisbane Broncos, Langer played in the famous 1992 and 1993 premiership victories for the Broncos in what was then the NSWRL competition, as well as being part of the side that won the 1997 Super League title.
He won the Dally M Halfback of the Year medal on three occasions and was named both the Rugby League Week Player of the Year and Dally M Medallist in 1996.
Named in the NRL‘s team of the 1990s, Langer’s name sometimes falls down the list of the greatest halves to play the sport, but his career accolades are undeniable and he will come into the conversation here.
Brett Kenny
A four-time premiership winner with the Parramatta Eels, Brett Kenny was part of the golden generation for the club, playing 265 games between 1980 and 1993.
Often playing alongside the likes of Peter Sterling, Kenny could play five-eighth, centre or lock forward and played 17 matches for both the New South Wales Blues at the State of Origin level and Australia at the Test level.
He never captained his country, but toured with the Kangaroos twice, and took out the Golden Boot award in 1985, as well as being the man of the match in both the 1982 and 1983 grand finals.
He was named at number 27 in Rugby League Week’s list of the top 100 players released in 1982, and was named in the NRL‘s team of the 1980s.
Darren Lockyer
The big question around Lockyer is whether the NRL considers it to be too soon. Under new rules, they will induct one player as an Immortal every four years. In the coming decades, there are going to be a number of players who require induction, which means the game are probably running out of chances to induct players from earlier generations.
There is little doubt that Lockyer will one day come under consideration as an Immortal though, and there is no reason as to why he shouldn’t be in the running to be named here.
A one-club player, Lockyer played 355 games for the Broncos during a career that spanned from 1995 to 2011, while he also played a staggering 59 Tests for Australia (38 of which he captained) and 36 Origins for Queensland.
A long-term club, state and national captain, his versatility in being able to shift from fullback to the halves without dropping any of his level saw his storied career bring with it three NRL premierships in 1998, 2000 and 2006, as well as a Super League in 1997.
He won the Dally M Fullback of the Year three times and five-eighth of the Year three times, took out the Wally Lewis Medal in 2006 and the Clive Churchill Medal in 2000, was named in Queensland’s Team of the Century in 2008 and took out the Golden Boot in 2003 and 2006.
Brad Fittler
Fittler may be most recently remembered as a State of Origin coach, but his legacy as a player far exceeds anything he did with the clipboard in hand.
One of the greatest of all-time, Fittler played 336 top-flight games between 1989 and 2004 with the Penrith Panthers and Sydney Roosters, while he played 31 State of Origins for New South Wales and 38 Tests for Australia, of which 25 were as captain.
Starting his career in the centres, Fittler was named the Dally M Centre of the Year in 1992 and 1993 before being named Dally M Lock of the Year in 1994.
He then shifted into the halves and won the Dally M five-eighth of the year award in 1998, 1999, and 2002. He never won the Dally M Medal, but he was close on occasion and took out the Rugby League Week Player of the Year award in 1997.
The 2000 Golden Boot winner took out an NRL premiership with the Roosters in 2002 and an NSWRL one with the Panthers in 1991 and was eventually named in the NRL‘s team of the 1990s.
Peter Sterling
Pending how far the NRL look backwards in inducting the next Immortal, Peter Sterling could well be the favourite. One of the most gifted players to lace up a boot, the former Parramatta Eels halfback played 228 games for the club between 1978 and 1992.
That run included the last run of dominance for the Eels, with the club taking out premierships in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986.
He was named the Dally M Player of the Year in 1986 and 1987 and took out the Golden Boot in 1987. He also won the Rothmans Medal in 1987 and 1990, while he was named the Rugby League Week Player of the Year in 1984, 1986 and 1987.
One of the dominant players of his generation, he was recognised as number 11 in Rugby League Week’s Top 100 players (announced in 1992), and made the NRL‘s team of the 1980s in 2004.
In that time, he played 13 State of Origins and 18 Tests for Australia, and while those numbers don’t break any records, Sterling had a career that deserves to be recognised in an elite pool of players.
He must surely be the favourite.