In late 2007, the Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League commissioned a college of 130 experts to select the 100 best rugby league players in the game's 100-year history in Australia. The list was released in February 2008.
From this list a "Team of the Century" was selected – a team of 17 Australian players considered to be the best of all time in each position (plus four interchange/reserves and a coach). This illustrious line-up was announced in Sydney on 17 April 2008. [1]
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
John William Raper was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Nicknamed "Chook", he was a lock-forward who earned a then-record of 33 Test caps in the Australia national team between 1959 and 1968. He also played six World Cup games between 1960 and 1968. Raper captained Australia on eight occasions from 1967 to 68 and played in eight consecutive NSWRFL first-grade grand final victories for the St George Dragons club. He was named as one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
Steven Frederick Rogers was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and St. George Dragons teams in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership competition and for Widnes in the English Championship, usually in the position of centre. Rogers represented New South Wales and Australia captaining the national team once in 1981.
Barry Muir was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian and Queensland representative halfback, he played in 22 Tests between 1959 and 1964, as captain on two occasions.
Reginald William "Reg" Gasnier was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played centre for the St. George Dragons from 1959 to 1967 and represented Australia in a then record 36 Tests and three World Cup games. He was the captain of the national side on eight occasions between 1962 and 1967.
Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He won five premierships with the club as a player and three more as coach. Retiring as the most capped Australian Kangaroos player ever, Churchill is thus considered one of the game's greatest ever players and the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for man-of-the-match in the NRL grand final bears his name. Churchill's attacking flair as a player is credited with having changed the role of the fullback.
Brian Eyrl Bevan, also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who became the only player ever to have been inducted into both the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame and British Rugby League Hall of Fame. An Other Nationalities representative wing and the record try scorer in the history of the Rugby League European Championship, Bevan scored a world record 796 tries, mainly for Warrington. In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, he was named on the wing of Australia's Team of the Century (1908–2007). Bevan was the only player chosen in the team who had never represented Australia in a test match.
Wally Prigg (1908–1980) was an Australian rugby league footballer. He was a lock for the Australian national rugby league team. He played nineteen Tests for the Kangaroos between 1929 and 1938, seven as captain and was the first Australian player to make three tours to Great Britain with the Australian national rugby league team. He has been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
Kenneth John Irvine, also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a first-grade career – 212. No other player has yet managed 200 tries in their Australian club career, with the closest to Irvine's tally being Melbourne Storm player Billy Slater, who scored 190. He is also the 2nd all-time top try-scorer for the Australian national team with 33, two behind Darren Lockyer's 35. Irvine's great speed is legendary and he is regarded as Australia's greatest ever winger, being named in 2008 in the list of Australian rugby league's 100 greatest players, as well as being an automatic selection for the Australian Rugby League's "Team of the Century".
Frank Burge was one of the greatest forwards in the history of rugby league in Australia. Later Burge became one of the game's finest coaches. His club career was with Glebe and the St. George Dragons. He represented New South Wales on twenty-six occasions and played thirteen test matches for the Kangaroos and played for Australia in a further twenty-three tour matches.
Sidney Charles Pearce, better known as Sandy, was a pioneer Australian rugby league footballer and boxer. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. In 1907 he played for New South Wales in the first rugby match run by the newly created 'New South Wales Rugby Football League' which had just split away from the established New South Wales Rugby Football Union. He made his first national representative appearance in 1908.
Norman Douglas Somerville Provan was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning years, from 1956 to 1966. Named among the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century, he was a representative in the Australia national team from 1954 to 1960, winning 14 Tests and two World Cups. In 2018, he was inducted as the 13th Immortal of Australian rugby league.
Andrew McLaren Norval was an Australian professional rugby league footballer, a national and state representative lock-forward whose club career was with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club.
Brian Patrick Carlson was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a centre & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World Cup games between 1952 and 1961, as captain on 2 occasions. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
George Treweek was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a towering second-row in his time, who formed an integral part of the champion South Sydney teams of the 1920s and early 1930s. He is rated as one of the finest second-row forwards ever to play for Australia.
Duncan Hall was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for Fortitude Valley Diehards and represented Queensland and Australia. He has been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. Away from football Hall worked as a hotelier and bookmaker, and in his later years worked at the Broncos Leagues Club. His son Duncan Hall, Jr. played 15 rugby union tests for the Wallabies
Roy Bull was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s and spent his whole career – as player, coach & administrator – with the Manly-Warringah club in Sydney. In addition to playing in three New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership grand finals, he was a representative for the New South Wales rugby league team and the Australian national side. He has since been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
In late 2007, the Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League commissioned 130 experts to select the 100 best rugby league players in the game's 100-year history in Australia. From this list, a limited panel of experts picked a "Team of the Century" – a team of 17 players considered to be the best Australian players of all time. This team was announced in Sydney on 17 April 2008, see Australian Rugby League's Team of the Century.
Harry James Wells is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A centre whose club career was played along the New South Wales coast as well as in Sydney with the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Western Suburbs Magpies, he has since been named among the nation's best players of the 20th century.
Kelvin Joseph "Kel" O'Shea was an Australian representative rugby league footballer, a second-rower from Queensland whose club career was played with the Western Suburbs Magpies in Sydney. He is rated among the nation's best players of the 20th century.
