OVERLOOKED for a start in the Newcastle Rugby League Team of the Century, Kurri Kurri hard man John Sattler was one of eight Hunter products named yesterday among the 100 Greatest players in Australian premiership history.
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Three-time Dally M Medallist and recently retired captain Andrew Johns (Cessnock) was the only Newcastle Knights representative in the top 100, and he and Sattler were among six post-war players of Hunter heritage to make the final cut.
The others were Immortal Clive Churchill (Central), fellow fullback Les Johns (South Newcastle), utility back Brian Carlson (North) and winger Eddie Lumsden (Kurri).
Back-row forwards Wally Prigg (Western Suburbs), who was named captain of Newcastle's Team of the Century, and Herb Narvo (North) flew the flag from the 1908-1945 period.
Former Maitland coach Johnny King, who still lives in the area, was included among the 100 Greatest.
King played in the last seven of St George's world-record streak of 11 grand final wins, scoring a try in six straight and going close in the seventh.
Sattler, who despite a broken jaw famously captained South Sydney to grand final glory over Manly in 1971, was named on the bench for the Newcastle centenary team behind starting props Paul Harragon (Lakes, Knights) and Jim Gibbs (South).
Harragon was one of the 14 other Knights internationals to miss out but, of those, current captain and hooker Danny Buderus and retired back-rower Ben Kennedy could consider themselves the unluckiest.
Buderus, the 2004 Dally M Medallist, NSW captain for the past four State of Origin series and the Knights' most capped international with 24 Test appearances, was named last week at No.22 in Rugby League Week magazine's list of the 30 greatest players since 1978.
"To narrow down all the champions of the past century to just 100 players was an enormous challenge," Rugby League Centenary committee chairman Colin Love said.
"Even a list of 200 wouldn't have satisfied the debate that will rage between the eras and that, in many ways, is the nature of sport.
"What is beyond argument is the quality of the players who are on this list.
"They are all champions and, somewhat uniquely, this process has taken the time to look at the contribution of each individual player in the context of their time in the game."
Members of the Australian Rugby League Voting College, made up of more than 130 former players, coaches, administrators, journalists and historians, were involved in the voting process to establish the 100 Greatest list.
That list will be whittled down to a 17-man Australian Team of the Century, to be announced at the game's Centenary Ball on April 17. A team of 13 players, four reserves and a coach, will be hailed as the game's greatest side of the past 100 years.
Of Andrew Johns's contemporaries, Brisbane, Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer was included, but there was no room for fellow modern-day stars Gorden Tallis or Ricky Stuart.
Lockyer was the only current player to win selection, as the likes of Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith may have left their run a little too late to squeeze onto the list.
In all, 39 Test or World Cup captains were named in the group, along with 27 premiership captains, 84 NSW representatives and 30 Queenslanders.
Rough-edged halfback Tom Raudonikis, who played 20 Tests and went on Kangaroos tours in 1973 and 1978, said he felt privileged to be honoured in such a way.
"I don't expect to be anywhere near being considered in a team of the century," Raudonikis said.
"But I am so honoured and excited to be in the top 100, you have no idea. It is a massive privilege."
While household names such as Johns, Lockyer and Brad Fittler were honoured, so too were the game's pioneers in Dally Messenger, Chris McKivat and Sandy Pearce.
Eleven members of the St George sides that won 11 straight premierships were named, while players whose most prominent years were served in England, such as Albert Rosenfeld, Vic Hey, Arthur Clues and Brian Bevan, were also recognised.
"One can always argue that any player from the professional era would out-perform someone from 1908 or 1909 simply because of the opportunities and professionalism of today," Love said.
"On one hand, the players from those earlier times have no eye-witnesses who can put forward their case, and on the other there is the difficult question of whether the stories of their achievements handed down through the years have sometimes surpassed the reality.
"The thorough process undertaken was one that scrutinised each players career and which took into account the context of the era in which he played. It was a process that gave champions from all eras the chance to be considered."
Harry Wells, a Western Suburbs Magpies hero of the 1950s and '60s who starred in 21 Tests, summed up the honour players felt in being chosen.
"I would have played for nothing," Wells said.
"The wonderful, lasting mateship I enjoyed and the chance to play for Australia was more than enough reward for me.
"But to be chosen among the 100 best players over a century is the greatest honour I could ever imagine."
Having accepted the 36 members of league's Hall of Fame as automatic inclusions, the Rugby League Centenary committee commissioned a team of historians to prepare a list of players for consideration.
A list of 175 was chosen for a publication that examined the records of pre- and post-war champions. Judges were also allowed to choose any other player they felt should be included but who was not listed among the 175.
College members were then asked to list 23 players from 1908-1945 and 41 from 1946-2007, ensuring 100 Greatest would include 38 players from the era of 1908-1945 (38 seasons) and 62 from the era of 1946-2007 (62 seasons).
