Emotional Coote joins elite club as NRL Immortal

Ron Coote has been named the 14th rugby league immortal after a career featuring six premierships, 13 Interstate matches for NSW and 23 Tests for Australia. 

The announcement came at a formal dinner at the SCG, with the NRL also inducting 25 former players, coaches, officials and contributors to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. 

Coote won four premierships with the Rabbitohs and two with the Roosters, and his elevation to the status of rugby league Immortal was announced by Prime Minister, and passionate South Sydney fan, Anthony Albanese. 

It was an accolade many had called for Coote to be awarded for a long time and he said it was an honour to join the sport's most elite club.

"I'm a bit taken for words at the moment," Coote said after he was named the 14th Immortal. "I never thought I'd be crying when I was 80 but here I am.

"For me it's sensational. I never thought it would happen. I've been at this function a few times and this time I've got the gong. It really means a lot to me and I really appreciate it."

In becoming the 14th immortal, Coote joins a group led by inaugural members of the elite club Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, John Raper and Reg Gasnier.

Graeme Langlands and Wally Lewis were added in 1999, followed by Arthur Beetson in 2003. Andrew Johns became the eighth immortal in 2012. 

The most recent induction came in 2018, with the NRL inducting players from the pre-World War era for the first time. Dally Messenger, Dave Brown and Frank Burge were selected from that period, with Mal Meninga and Norm Provan also earning the honour at the same time.

Coote grew up in Sydney's south-eastern suburbs and played his junior rugby league for Souths Juniors before progressing to first grade and making his senior debut as a 19-year-old in 1964. 

The lock forward played 148 games for the Rabbitohs, winning premierships in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971. He moved to the arch-rival Roosters in 1972, leading the side to back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975 before retiring in 1978.

He played in nine grand finals in an 11-year stretch throughout that span and was considered one of the biggest names in the game.

Coote enjoyed considerable success at the representative level, captaining Australia to their 1970 World Cup triumph and was named in both the NSW Team of the Century and Australian Rugby League Team of the Century in 2008.

His contribution to the sport continued following his retirement, Coote founding the Men of League alongside Max Brown and Jim Hall in 2002. Now named the Family of League, the organisation supports members of the rugby league community who have fallen on hard times. 

Coote said the foundation for his success was born playing in the Souths Juniors competitions and thanked his family for allowing him to follow his passion for the sport. 

"I appreciate everything rugby league has done for me," Coote said. "I can go back to the days when I played junior league in Souths Juniors. They were always supportive to us.

"When I was a kid I remember we had a tour to New Zealand when I was a 12-year-old. They took us over there, we played two or three games and I thought 'this game's for me' and it has been. I've had a great life. 

"I put that down to the opportunity I've been given through playing the game of rugby league. I certainly admire it today, I see the great game it is, how it's improved. It's the greatest game in the world. I watch the TV at all hours now because I can't not watch it, it's so good. 

"That's my story. I'd like to say thank you to everyone here tonight and say keep following rugby league. I'm sure you'll get a lot of satisfaction and pleasure from the great game."

Throughout the evening, 17 players were inducted into the Hall of Fame, the first step on the path to becoming an immortal.

The male inductees were Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater, Les Boyd, Lionel Morgan, Sam Burgess, Benji Marshall, Ben Elias, Steve Renouf and Johnathan Thurston.

The history-making female inductees inducted at the ceremony were Karyn Murphy, Katrina Fanning, Tarsha Gale, Nat Dwyer, Tahnee Norris and Veronica White.

Four contributors are also entering the Hall of Fame - administrators John Quayle and Ken Arthurson and broadcasters Frank Hyde and David Morrow, while Bill Harrigan and Col Pearce are the first referees to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Wayne Bennett and Jack Gibson are the first coaches inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The plaudits for Coote were quick to flow on Wednesday night, with South Sydney chairman Nicholas Pappas acknowledging Coote's contribution to the sport. 

“It is difficult to put into words Ron Coote’s impact on the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the game of rugby league,” Pappas said.

“A giant in every sense, Ron embodies all the qualities of a sporting legend: towering strength, uncanny skill and gracious humility.

“Always a Rabbitoh first and foremost, Ron is an icon not just because of the way he conducted himself on the field, but equally for what he achieved, and continues to achieve, off it.

“With an abiding care for his fellow players, Ron is emblematic of what a modern footballer should aspire to become and there are many lessons there for the modern-day player.

“On behalf of the board of the South Sydney Rabbitohs on this momentous day, our hearty congratulations go to Ron, to Robyn and to the entire Coote family for a truly spectacular career in Rugby League.”