Ron Coote announced as 14th rugby league Immortal
Ron Coote has been announced as the 14th rugby league immortal at a ceremony in Sydney.
He joins the Immortals list along with Clive Churchill, John Raper, Reg Gasnier, Norm Proven, Graeme Langlands, Bob Fulton, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Andrew Johns, Dally Messenger, Frank Burge, Dave Brown and Mal Meninga.
ABC Sport is live blogging every round of the AFL and NRL seasons in 2024.
An emotional Coote was announced as the 14th Immortal by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“I am a bit taken for words at the moment,” Coote said as he accepted the honour.
“I never thought I’d be crying when I was 80.
“To me, it’s just sensational. I never thought it would happen.”
Coote won six premierships from nine grand finals.
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He won four premierships with Souths and two with the Roosters.
“I really appreciate everything rugby league has done for me,” he said.
“I’ve had a great life and I put that down to the opportunity I’ve been given through playing the game of rugby league.”
The announcement of the 14th Immortal came on an evening when the NRL formally inducted 25 new members to the Hall of Fame.
Eleven male players were joined by the inaugural six females, two coaches and two referees.
Two administrators and two broadcasters were also inducted.
NRL Hall of Fame inductees, 2024
- Lionel Morgan
- Les Boyd
- Ben Elias
- Steve Renouf
- Cameron Smith
- Johnathan Thurston
- Billy Slater
- Benji Marshall
- Cooper Cronk
- Greg Inglis
- Sam Burgess
- Karyn Murphy
- Katrina Fanning
- Tarsha Gale
- Nat Dwyer
- Tahnee Norris
- Veronica White
- Jack Gibson (coach)
- Wayne Bennett (coach)
- Bill Harrigan (referee)
- Col Pearce (referee)
- John Quayle (administrator)
- Ken Arthurson (administrator)
- Frank Hyde (broadcaster)
- David Morrow (broadcaster)
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