It was already the toughest job in rugby league but a rule tweak has ensured it is now tougher for judges deciding who will join the game’s Immortals on Wednesday night.
Up to two new Immortals will be announced along with six Hall of Fame inductees at the special NRL ceremony at the SCG.
Eight judges had faced the unenviable task of choosing from an Immortals short list of Dally Messenger, Mal Meninga, Darren Lockyer, Ken Irvine, Norm Provan, Brian Bevan, Ron Coote, Dave Brown, Frank Burge and Duncan Hall.
The judges’ difficult quest to choose a ninth and possibly 10th Immortal was only made harder after the NRL made an important eligibility change.
When the Immortals concept was first started in 1981 by the now defunct Rugby League Week (RLW) publication, judges refused to consider anyone they had not seen play so only looked at post-World War II careers.
But that has been ditched since the NRL took over the concept last year when RLW folded.
All eras are now considered however players are only eligible for Immortal status if they are an NRL Hall of Fame member.
Former NSW playmaker Brett Kimmorley could empathise with the judges’ plight after the rule tweak.
“Unfortunately with our generation we haven’t seen a lot of those guys play,” he told NRL.com.
“We’ve seen Lockyer and Meninga so you don’t know how great some of these players were – the judges are in a very tough position.”
Messenger is hot favourite to be the first pre-war player inducted more than 100 years after his fateful decision to turn his back on rugby and join the newly formed NSWRL in 1907.
Former Test and Queensland captain Meninga has also gained support after being overlooked for Andrew Johns at the last Immortals announcement in 2012.
For the record, Kimmorley reckoned Dragons great Provan – who featured in 10 straight premierships and was captain-coach in five – must be picked.
No matter who is named debate is set to continue over who should be on the Immortals list.
“It’s a toss of the coin with a few on that list,” Manly great Geoff Toovey said of the short-list.
Toovey backed ex-North Sydney and Manly flyer Irvine, who scored a staggering 212 tries in 236 games, to be inducted.
“He’s got that flair, flash and that record that he’s got that maybe will never be surpassed,” Toovey told NRL.com.
Johns was the last Immortal inducted in 2012, joining Clive Churchill (1981), Bob Fulton (1981), Reg Gasnier (1981), Johnny Raper (1981), Graeme Langlands (1999), Wally Lewis (1999) and Arthur Beetson (2003).