Rugby has always honoured its greats well, even decades after they are gone.
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So it was on Wednesday at a function in North Sydney, when Inside Rugby announced its answer to league's Immortals, the Wallabies' four initial Invincibles. Yours truly was one of the 15 judges who met six weeks ago to discuss and then vote in a secret ballot, with the only criteria being that they had to be post-World War II players, and retired for at least five years. The result was what we in NSW will identify as "four Randwick players," while north of the Tweed, will be decried as "four non-Queenslanders!"
Here they are.
Col Windon. A tearaway breakaway in the Phil Kearns/Nick Farr-Jones mould, in that he only blossomed after school was over. He lost his best playing years to service in World War II, but still put together 20 Tests afterwards. Speaking on his behalf, fellow Wallaby Max Howell told the audience: "We called him The Breeze, because he ran like the wind. Any time I ever made a break in the centres, I could always hear Col and his brother Keith behind me saying, 'We're with you.' Col used to say, 'The best player I ever played with, was my brother, Keith'.''
Ken Catchpole. Still spry at 73, the man who made his debut for the Wallabies in 1961, as captain, going on to play 23 superb Tests, accepted the accolades of Wallabies World Cup-winning coach Rod Macqueen, and spoke warmly of how honoured he felt and everything that rugby had given to him. He was remembered by Macqueen as a halfback with the complete game - the perfect pass, greatest intuition, best tackling style and best kicking game.
Mark Ella. Mark, too, accepted his own award, from his long-time coach Bob Dwyer, who recounted a reunion last year where three players spoke warmly of the 25-Test five-eighth who also captained his country with distinction.
"Michael Hawker," Dwyer said, "recounted how 'the three Ella brothers taught us all to play again'.'' Then Michael O'Connor said: ''Mark Ella is the best player I've played with, in rugby union or rugby league.'' And then Wally Lewis said: ''Mark Ella is the best player I've played with or against in rugby union or rugby league.'' And I thought to myself: ''Well, these blokes know a lot more about it than I do."
David Campese. True, before Campo's selection was announced, visiting British and Irish Lion and now journalist John Taylor was asked who was the most obvious Australian Invincible, and he did say: "I would have said Campo, but he's such a miserable git .. ." But we forgive him. For the test was not whether they could be a miserable git on a bad day, it was whether they were consistently capable of lifting their entire team, and as Dwyer's men said of Mark Ella, I would say exactly that of Campo in his 101 Tests on the wing. On a good day he could win it on his own, and on a bad day he was still inspiring. Accepting the award on his behalf his former coach Alan Jones described Campo as "an extraordinarily intuitive player … with a capacity to make fools of all defences … a model of application and discipline." And so say all of us.
All up, a great event, and great move, notwithstanding that it is so derivative of rugby league's Immortals concept. And, just like rugby league, there will obviously be additions in years to come. Three likely candidates for me will be Farr-Jones, John Eales and Tim Horan. All three did it all, won it all, and there will be great surprise in some quarters that they didn't make this first list.
The person who can most take a bow is the great centre Cyril Towers, a Wallabies and Randwick player from the 1930s who was the greatest exponent of the flat back-line concept, a man who inspired the Galloping Greens to embrace it and crucially, convinced Dwyer it was the only way to play the game. It worked, and established a club that produced four out of four of the first Invincibles.
Bravo, the lot of yers.
Twitter - @Peter_Fitz
