Mass inductions a possibility
MORE mass inductions into the NRL’s Immortals concept may not be out of the question after selection panel chairman Ian Heads said it could be considered again in four years time.
The NRL broke from tradition on Wednesday night when pre-World War II players Dally Messenger, Dave Brown and Frank Burge were all inducted alongside Mal Meninga and Norm Provan.
It marked the first time players from the founding years of the competition had been eligible, after the NRL assumed control of the group from the now-defunct Rugby
League Week magazine.
It was also the most players ever inducted at the same time, after four were named in 1981, two in 1999 and then one in 2003 and 2012.
And while it’s generally believed the game will move back to one to two new inductions considered every four years, Heads said the panel could look at inducting larger groups again.
“It will revert back to a more formal stage probably,” chairman Ian Heads said.
“But it is a bit of a moving beast, you don’t know. There were other great early day players who are not there.”