Young tearaways are often told “there’s no I in team”, but for fans consumed by the one-eyed barracking grind, the toppling of individual records can be a welcome distraction.
Whether it’s Darren Lockyer’s glistening scone bobbling down the tunnel for most appearances, or Hazem El Masri’s arrival at the point-scoring pinnacle, they are the illustrious custodians of century-long pursuits.
And given the ultimate objective is to ground the ball in your opponents’ in-goal, crossing the stripe without peer is arguably the game’s most prestigious individual honour.
It’s certainly the most elusive Australian honour, with only two flag bearers since the 1920s, headlined for more than four decades by Ken Irvine’s mind-boggling double ton.
Back in the days when four-pointers were three, Irvine and fellow New South Wales colts slugger Reg Gasnier traded baseball diamonds for footy fields, where the diminutive North Sydney junior charmed Bear Park diehards with supersonic speed for 13 seasons until 1970.
And despite only twice making the finals, the dashing winger finished with an astonishing 171 tries from only 176 appearances at a breathtaking strike rate of 97 tries per 100 games.
Eventually the slippery crowd pleaser met his match, tracked down by a chequebook-propelled Ken Arthurson prior to 1971. Irvine’s three years across the Spit yielded 41 tries, culminating in Manly’s second premiership in 1973.
At 33 the sprigged afterburners returned to the hanger etching a 212-try legacy – a whopping 60 clear of Harold Horder’s previous mark set in 1924.
Witnesses gush recalling the superior positional play and evasiveness of the Australian Team of the Century maestro, and a world record 100 yard dash in 1963 quantifies a unique mastery for magically reappearing at the opposite end of the park.
Throw in 33 tries from 31 Tests – two behind Darren Lockyer’s record – and it’s hard to reconcile how the man known as ‘Mongo’ evaded Immortal selection.
Horder’s 152, compiled with Norths and Souths, stood alone for 45 years until 1969 when Irvine blazed beyond. Unrivalled in the 46 years since, a doubling to 2061 would initiate wild celebrations amid the symbolic return of Halley’s Comet.
So with an astronomical scream, is there anybody out there?
It’s clear would-be challengers need at least one supernatural attribute that glows for over 200 games and after that, a perfect alignment of planets.
Billy Slater (170 tries, 276 games) tops the list of current candidates, followed by Brett Stewart (149 tries, 205 games) and Manu Vatuvei (141 tries, 202 games).
Yet to open his 2015 account, Slater sits one shy of Irvine’s club record, but to claim the ultimate honour he’ll need more than lazy defenders to defy the punishing powers of Father Time.
For a realistic tilt, Billy will need to play unscathed beyond his 35th birthday until the end of 2018. Another 75 games at a career strike rate 62 converts to 46 tries – four beyond the unthinkable.
Easier said than done, especially in a chassis banged-up by more than 300 top-level outings that wouldn’t front a second-hand sale yard along Parramatta Road.
Currently playing season number 13, the former jockey’s slight frame is not only losing acceleration but chalk finding nous, scoring only 12 from his last 27 at a career-low strike rate of 44. Hardly a criminal offence for a player who’s morphed into a crucial linkman and is already rated by many experts as Australia’s greatest ever fullback – even Irvine’s lightning strike rate slipped to 68 from a career average 90 in his final three seasons.
Interestingly, of the nine to score more than 150 tries, Matt Sing’s strike rate is the only one that improved in the final three years, while the others slipped by around 10 per cent. Although Horder – the Irvine of his time – still struck at one try per match.
So can Billy Slater top the pops?
No, not according to current trends, but to be fair his expiry date remains unknown. Passing the double century will be a significant achievement in itself, grinding a career beyond 2018 may launch him to a most-capped/top try-scoring orbit all of his own.
So what of the Beast and Snake?
On smiles alone the sparkly toothed Manu is the sentimental favourite, but speculation remains a tad premature for an ageing body still 71 bump-and-crunch pathways in arrears.
The same trap derailed Stewart’s campaign after being touted in 2008 when consecutive season-ending injuries dashed the Brookvale flyer’s golden run.
Rest assured, whoever reaches the magical 213 will do so with traits to rival those noted by respected journalist and Bears tragic Mike Gibson, who once wrote Irvine was something akin to “Captain Marvel, Superman, Brick Bradford and Batman and Robin all rolled into one”.
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