Dally Messenger, Dave Brown and Frank Burge have become the first three players from the pre-World War II era to be inducted as rugby league Immortals.
The trio have become the ninth, 10th and 11 men to be named among the game’s Immortals at a gala dinner at the SCG on Wednesday night after the NRL previously planned to name a maximum of two.
However a judging panel including Wally Lewis, Bob Fulton, Andrew Johns, Wayne Bennett, Phil Gould, Ray Warren and Steve Crawley felt the early 20th century players would miss the chance to join the group if they were not recognised now.
“The judges took the view that this was a one-off opportunity to recognise the past, to recognise three players from the pre-war era who became legends of the game,” NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said.
The award’s original owners, Rugby League Week, initially made players from before the Second World War ineligible given the judges hadn’t seen them play live.
“If the panel did not take this step we could have lost our chance to include these champion players among our Immortals,” Greenberg said.
“It was an opportunity the game could not afford to miss and the Immortals now reflect the full history of rugby league from 1908 to the present.”
Messenger, Brown and Burge are remembered among the greatest pioneers of the sport in Australia.
Messenger is largely credited with helping its initial growth and popularity after joining from the Australian rugby union team in the founding year of the Sydney competition.
He featured heavily in Eastern Suburbs’ three-peat premiership years of 1911, 1912 and 1913 as a star centre and long-range goalkicker.
His new-found status makes Messenger one of rugby league’s most acclaimed figures, given the NRL’s MVP is named in his honour.
Burge is renowned as arguably the game’s greatest attacking forward.
He scored 137 tries in 138 matches for Glebe between 1911 and 1926 before adding another nine in 16 games for St George in 1927.
His record of eight tries in a premiership match for Glebe against University in 1920 is not likely to be matched. He also played 29 matches for NSW and 13 Tests for Australia
Brown was also a noted try-scorer, holding the record for the most three-pointers in a season with 38 in just 15 games for Easts in 1935.
Known as the Bradman of rugby league, he still holds the record for the most points in a single game, with five tries and 10 goals for a tally of 45 against Canterbury in the same season.
RUGBY LEAGUE’S IMMORTALS:
Clive Churchill (1981), Bob Fulton (1981), Reg Gasnier (1981), Johnny Raper (1981), Graeme Langlands (1999), Wally Lewis (1999), Arthur Beetson (2003), Andrew Johns (2012), Dally Messenger (2018), Dave Brown (2018) and Frank Burge (2018).
