Gordon Bray: The Immortals of Australian Rugby Union and the selection process

Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 9:34 AM
Wallabies Match Day Program - Gordon Bray

The initial challenge was to compress 125 years of Wallabies landscape then scale and assess the scattered peaks in order to determine the kingmakers.

The final 15 players, in no particular positions, demanded a seat at the head table of an exclusive club entitled The Immortals of Australian Rugby Union.

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Rockpool Publishing wanted to replicate rugby league’s Immortals concept which honours a select few. Until Ron Coote was added last month, league had just 13 elite players who made an indelible impression on their code.

My criteria was largely based on the rugby league model which embraces those who reached the highest strata and became legends of the game.

Those players who influenced the way the game was played and in rugby’s case, who also achieved World XV status or were dominant in a world champion team or equivalent.

Contribution after playing career was also an important consideration and in accordance with rugby league’s edict, current and recently retired players were not considered at this stage.

Superficially, culling over 900 Wallabies to just 15 appears an unenviable task but not so. Rugby Australia has an elite ‘Wallabies Hall of Fame’ category within its ranks which numbers over 50. Selecting from that cohort made the job more manageable but no less brutal.

When asked how long it took to write the book, my response is always, ‘A lifetime!’ After all my initial ‘live’ exposure to an international game occurred in 1959 at the old Sydney Sports Ground when the NSW Waratahs upset the British & Irish Lions.

What an incredible experience for a young fan. Teenage scrum-half Ken Catchpole made his debut and scored a scintillating try. Randwick teammate and hooker Peter Johnson, a future Wallaby record holder and captain, also debuted.

Ken Catchpole was a worthy inclusion in the Immortals list.
When assessing the peak periods in Australian rugby history it was important to discuss Dr Herb Moran’s 1908-09 Wallabies who won 32 of their 38 games in Britain, USA and Canada including the Olympic gold medal at the London Games.

Unquestionably the standout player in either code pre First World War was enigmatic Herbert Henry ‘Dally’ Messenger.

Although he played only two rugby union tests for Australia he certainly staked a claim but ultimately lack of longevity in the amateur code ensured his status as a rugby league Immortal.

The late Peter ‘Charlie’ Crittle, an iconic Wallaby and rugby historian described the 1927-28 Waratahs as “the most significant squad that ever left Australian shores”.

Immortal Cyril Towers was one of the stars of that team and beyond that period was hailed as the best centre in world rugby.

His illustrious Queensland teammate Tommy ‘The Loping Ghost’ Lawton narrowly missed my final cut.

He captained Australia to a 3-0 whitewash against the All Blacks in 1929 and led the revival of Qld rugby after a 10 year hiatus following the Great War.

A tall lean fly-half in the mould of Immortal Stephen Larkham, his calmness and trademark body swerve emanating from powerful hips and cultured handling were embodied in his hard, compact six-foot frame.

Towers is the only Immortal selected between the two World Wars however a further three Wallabies, ‘Wild Bill’ Cerutti, Graham Cooke and Lawton were named in my chapter of HONOURABLE MENTIONS.

The late Trevor Allan emerged triumphantly after the Second World War when thrust into the captaincy on the 1947-48 Wallaby tour of Britain, five days beyond his 21st birthday.

Skipper Bill McLean had suffered a broken leg against Combined Services and never played for Australia again. Allan then captained the Wallabies to their first series win in NZ in 1949. The BBC named him as one of the three finest players to visit Britain in the first half of the 20th century.

His teammate Professor Max Howell described him as “a boy prodigy who became a man overnight with the responsibility of captaincy”.

Two Immortals stood out in Australia’s golden run in the 1960s. John Thornett and Ken Catchpole were instrumental in the stunning drawn series in South Africa in 1963 when the Boks suffered back- to-back losses at home for the first time since 1896.

Teammate Dick Marks who was the inaugural national coaching director for 21 years deserves special mention according to World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer.

“Nothing has been more important to Australian Rugby than the establishment of our first ever coaching panel,” Marks offered.

“Our subsequent elevation to No.1 team in the world was a direct impact of the coaching panel and all of those wonderful players in the John Thornett era.”

Greg Davis, Jon White, Rob Heming and Peter Johnson, all from that era, made the HONOURABLE MENTIONS chapter.

The 25 year period from the late seventies to 2003 has produced the majority of the Immortals.

The Grand Slam Wallaby tour of Britain in 1984 was dominated by the likes of Mark Ella, David Campese, Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh, and Simon Poidevin.

Those memorable twin World Cup victories in 1991 and 1999 also featured many Wallaby superstars. From John Eales and Tim Horan to George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Matthew Burke.

As the author selecting the 15 Immortals, I chaired an unofficial panel of judges comprising early Wallabies, several national coaches, trusted historical authorities including the late Peter Crittle and Wallaby Dick Marks.

The selections were made without fear or favour and without regard for which side of the border they originated.

All 15 Wallabies are time-honoured legends. However the forwards who do all the hard yakka will understandably feel sleighted as they secured only four spots.

In fact if I was choosing my 15 NZ Immortals that lopsided ratio would historically be flipped in favour of All Black forwards.

Perhaps the great Queensland and Wallaby No.8 Mark Loane succinctly summed up this vexed issue when informed he had missed the cut and been relegated to an HONOURABLE MENTION.

“Our backs were always more vociferous and eloquent than the forwards. Clearly they have talked their way in there,” Loane said.

BRAY’S IMMORTALS

Cyril Towers

Trevor Allan

John Thornett

Ken Catchpole

Simon Poidevin

Mark Ella

David Campese

Michael Lynagh

Nick Farr-Jones

Tim Horan

John Eales

Matt Burke

George Gregan

Stephen Larkham

George Smith

BRAY’S MATCHDAY 23

1. Jon White
2. Phil Kearns
3. ‘Wild Bill’ Ceruti
4. Graham Cooke
5. John Eales
6. Simon Poidevin
7. George Smith
8. Greg Cornelsen
9. Ken Catchpole
10. Mark Ella
11. David Campese
12. Tim Horan
13. Cyril Towers
14. Joe Roff
15. Matt Burke

16. Peter Johnson
17. John Thornett
18. Nick Shehadie
19. Rob Heming
20. Mark Loane
21. Nick Farr-Jones
22. Michael Lyngah
23. Trevor Allan