Cameron Smith and Queensland’s golden generation of Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk join Hall of Fame
Queensland’s golden generation of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk will vie to be named rugby league’s next Immortal after officially being elevated into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Smith, who retired after the 2020 grand final and was able to included in the Hall of Fame intake due to a recent rule change, looms as the favourite to be the 14th Immortal – the highest individual honour in the game.
Players previously needed to be retired for five years before being accepted into the Hall of Fame, but the NRL has relaxed the mandate to three years, allowing Storm champion Smith, the game’s most decorated player, to be in contention.
The Australian Rugby League Commission will announce its newest Immortal at a black-tie function next Wednesday night.
Smith joins modern-day greats Slater, Inglis, Thurston, Cronk, Sam Burgess and Benji Marshall in the latest Hall of Fame batch. They will be inducted alongside Australia’s first Indigenous rugby league player, Lionel Morgan, fiery forward Les Boyd, Australian, NSW and Balmain hooker Ben Elias and representative centre Steve Renouf.
The Maroons’ unstoppable State of Origin team featuring Smith, Inglis, Thurston and Cronk won eight straight series between 2006-13, and 11 of 12 in a period of unrivalled interstate dominance.
Queensland and Australia’s golden generation of (l-r) Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.Credit: Paul Rovere
At the apex of that success was Smith, who finished his career as the only man to have played more than 400 top-grade games, won two Dally M medals and three premierships with the Storm. It led to many experts hailing him the game’s greatest-ever player.
The next Immortal will be the first announced since 2018 when pre-war greats Dally Messenger, Frank Burge and Dave Brown were honoured alongside Norm Provan and Mal Meninga.
