The NRL is set to honour some of the game’s great administrators with the likes of Ken Arthurson, John Quayle and Ron McAuliffe in the running to be inducted into the Hall of Fame later this month.
For the first time ever, the NRL will this year admit a contributor to the game from each of administration, print media and broadcast media into the hall of fame alongside four players.
The governing body on Monday released the 11-strong shortlist of administrators who were vying for the honour.
Among them are former ARL chairman Arthurson, ex-ARL CEO Quayle, the “father” of State of Origin McAuliffe, JJ Giltinan, Ted Larkin, Harry ‘Jersey’ Flegg, Harry Sunderland, Bill Buckley, Paul Broughton, Frank Johnson and Ross Livermore.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be held in Redfern in Sydney on August 14.
The NRL will announce the shortlist for nominees for the media and players over the next two days.
“The formal induction of our players and our contributors will be an extremely special and memorable night,” NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said.
“For the first time, we will acknowledge a representative from administration, from print media and from broadcast media.
“That is an incredibly important element of what we have done in recent years – reshape our Hall of Fame process to appropriately acknowledge the people who have made significant contributions to the game.
“Even today, so many of us know the likes of JJ Giltinan, Jersey Flegg, Ken Arthurson and John Quayle.”