Try scoring sensation, the late Ken Irvine, fended off Greg Florimo, Brian Carlson, Harold Horder and Duncan Thompson to be named the greatest North Sydney Bear at 7th annual AMP Men of League Gala Dinner at Star City’s Grand Harbour Ballroom.
The culmination of the Men of League Foundation’s ‘Byron Bay Premium Ale Centenary of Club Greats’ promotion saw Irvine named alongside the Game’s biggest stars.
The promotion celebrated 100 years of Rugby League club tribalism and honoured the Game’s biggest names, who have made an unequalled contribution to these famous clubs.
Irvine was given the accolade at the Gala Dinner alongside Team of the Century half and Newcastle’s finest player Andrew Johns, The Game’s greatest lock forward and greatest St George Dragon John Raper,Team of the Century reserve and Manly’s greatest Bob Fulton, Penrith’s Greg Alexander, North Queensland Cowboy’s Johnathan Thurston, Canterbury’s Steve Mortimer, Gold Coast’s Scott Prince and Illawarra’s point scoring sensation Rod Wishart.
Also at the dinner were Mick Cronin who was elevated above Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Ray Price and Ken Thornett to be named Parramatta’s best and Cameron Smith has finally been given something to smile about in Grand Final week, after he was named Melbourne Storm’s greatest ever player.
Darren Lockyer who out pointed the brilliant Broncos of the past two decades, including Allan Langer, Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Shane Webcke. The late Steve was named the Cronulla Sharks Player of the Centenary.
A proud Tommy Raudonikis picked up the award for the best ever Magpie, ahead of Noel Kelly, Harry Wells, Keith Holman and Vic Hey with Keith Barnes had his family in the crowd to see him named as the best Balmain Tiger, ahead of 1980s stars Wayne Pearce and Ben Elias and the legendary Balmain pair, Arthur “Pony” Halloway and Charles “Chook” Fraser, who led the Tigers to five premierships in six years from 1915 – 1920.
The father of Rugby League in Australia, Dally Messenger, was suitably named the Roosters top pick and was represented by his grandson Ken Messenger while the “Little Master” Clive Churchill, represented by his son Rodney and wife Joyce, was named the greatest Rabbitoh of the Century.
Notorious Newtown hard man Frank “Bumper” Farrell was announced as the greatest “Blue Bag” of the Century, represented on the night by his grandson – Manly and Roosters flyer Jack Elsegood. Queensland and Prime Ministers XIII coach,
Mal Meninga was unable to attend due to his commitments in Papua New Guinea but he beat a field including Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Glenn Lazarus and Bradley Clyde to be named the best ever Canberra Raider last night as the Club Great at the Finally the recently retired New Zealand general, Stacey Jones, was named the top Warrior
The greatest player from each of the 20 clubs who have played a minimum 10 years in the NRL or its predecessor competition were named as part of the Byron Bay Premium Ale Centenary of Club Greats theme at the AMP Men of League Ball.
Byron Bay Premium Ale – Centenary of Club Greats:
- Eastern Suburbs - Dally Messenger
- Newtown - Frank Farrell
- South Sydney - Clive Churchill
- Balmain - Keith Barnes
- North Sydney - Ken Irvine
- St George - John Raper
- Manly-Warringah - Bob Fulton
- Western Suburbs - Tom Raudonikis
- Cronulla-Sutherland - Steve Rogers
- Canterbury-Bankstown - Steve Mortimer
- Parramatta - Mick Cronin
- Penrith - Greg Alexander
- Canberra - Mal Meninga
- Illawarra - Rod Wishart
- Newcastle - Andrew Johns
- Warriors - Stacey Jones
- Brisbane - Darren Lockyer
- Melbourne - Cameron Smith
- North Queensland - Darren Lockyer
- Gold Coast - Scott Prince
SELECTION GUIDELINES:
- For a player to be eligible for a nomination, they must have played at least one full season of first grade for that particular club.
- Players may be eligible for nomination for two or more clubs
- When assessing a player’s eligibility as that club’s greatest player, the following points should be considered, with point (a) carrying the most weight, followed by point (b), point (c) then point (d). a. The Player’s Contribution to the club they are nominated for b. The Player’s representative achievements c. The Player’s Longevity at that particular club d. The Player’s achievements across their whole career
For details please ring Martin Cook from The Men of League Foundation on 0414 393 703.