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Why isn't Ken Irvine an Immortal?

1st May, 2018
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The Ken Irvine Scoreboard at North Sydney Oval - almost as good as Immortality. (Image: Kris Swales).
Expert
1st May, 2018
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There’s no more stark proof of the injustice to champion winger Ken Irvine than to compare him with champion centre Reg Gasnier.

Their careers ran in tandem from school days, when they were both picked in the NSW Schoolboys baseball team, and both were track champions.

Gasnier was the better all round-sportsmen, winning state honours in rugby and cricket as well, and was mighty handy with a tennis racquet or golf club.

They continued their close association and friendship when rugby league took over – Irvine from 1958 to 1973, Gasnier from 1959 to 1967.

They virtually played all their NSW and Australia rep games together, from 1959 to 1967, as Irvine featured in 24 games for NSW, with 30 tries, Gasnier 16 for 15.

Irvine wore the Kangaroo jumper 31 times for 33 tries, Gasnier 39 for 28.

The big difference was at club level, Irvine spending most of his career with a North Sydney Bears outfit that found a new way to lose every other week, with Irvine getting pneumonia languishing out on the wing.

Yet he scored 171 tries from 176 games, making the most of very limited opportunities. Only pure class can do that.

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Gasnier was surrounded by a plethora of internationals at St George, winning premierships, scoring 127 tries from 125 games.

Irvine created a major stink when he switched from the Bears across the Spit Bridge to link with Manly, in search of a premiership not ever likely at Norths. In 1972 and 1973, he got his long overdue premierships, crossing for 41 tries in 60 starts.

Career-wise, Irvine scored 275 tries from 291 games, Gasnier 170 from 280, yet Gasnier was rightfully made an Immortal in the first intake in 1981, while Irvine has still been ignored 37 years later.

That’s more than enough injustice just comparing him to ‘Puff the magic Dragon’.

But the injustice goes deeper, as Irvine has been the highest try-scorer in club rugby league history for the last 45 years, with 212 from 236 games.

Another champion, Billy Slater, is closing with 187 tries for the Storm. But it’s taken him 306 games so far, and he still has 26 tries to get past Irvine with a 35th birthday coming up.

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Can his body hold up long enough? Only Billy Slater can answer that.

Steve Menzies, the leading forward with 180 tries, took 359 games for Manly and the ill-fated Northern Eagles, before he hung up his boots.

Shark Andrew Ettingshausen took 328 for his 165 tries, Terry Lamb 350 for his 164 with Wests and the Bulldogs, while Manly’s Brett Stewart took 233 for his 163.

So it doesn’t matter what selection criteria has been used in the past, none of them have done justice to Ken Irvine.

He is still simply the best to this day, without the ultimate Immortal recognition.

That must be corrected on August 1.

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