The greatest players in the sport’s long and proud history will take centre stage on October 22 when RL Cares hosts the 2024 Rugby League Hall of Fame induction dinner.
NO-ONE knows the precise number of people who have played rugby league in the UK since the sport was established in the aftermath of a momentous meeting in a small West Yorkshire town 129 years ago.
Estimates range from 1.5 million men, women, boys and girls to upwards of 4 million. As ever, the truth probably lies somewhere in between.
No matter the number, one thing is for certain: only a tiny percentage of them got to play their chosen sport at the very highest level. Fewer still came to be regarded as the most talented athletes from the era in which they played.
And from that tiny elite group, an even smaller select few will achieve sporting immortality by being granted the ultimate honour that rugby league can bestow: membership of the RL Hall of Fame.
Established in 1988, the Hall of Fame was conceived to recognise and celebrate the exploits and achievements of the best of the very best.
Just nine players were inducted in its first year, and one the following year when Neil Fox MBE became the 10th member, having missed out 12 months earlier only because he did not meet the criteria stipulating players had to have been retired for a decade before they could be considered.
It was another 11 years before the sport saw fit to elevate more players into its pantheon of greatness and after inductions in 2000 and 2005, the Hall of Fame again fell dormant.
The involvement of Rugby League Cares in the process saw a further eight players inducted between 2013 and 2015 and the charity again seized the initiative in 2018 when three more legends joined this exclusive club.
The advent of men’s women’s and wheelchair World Cups in 2022 led to the RFL and RL Cares working together to re-set the induction process and usher in a new era for the Hall of Fame. A decision was taken to induct players on a two or three-yearly cycle aligned to the international calendar and to expand the Hall of Fame to include women players, as well as announce the intention to induct wheelchair players once that form of the sport becomes more established.
There was a small but significant tweak to the selection criteria, with the 10-years retired rule being halved to five.
Brenda Dobek, Lisa McIntosh and Sally Milburn became the first three women to join the Hall of Fame in 2022, when they were inducted at the same ceremony as Clive Sullivan, David Watkins, Adrian Morley and Andy Farrell.
The eight players were inducted at a memorable dinner against hosted by RL Cares at the spectacular The Edge auditorium in Wigan, where over 350 people were present to see history in the making.
The same venue will host the 2024 inductions on October 22 when six players – four men and two women – will take the total number of all-time greats in the Hall of Fame to 41.
The evening will also see the induction of the first team into the Hall of Fame: the 1996 Great Britain women who remain the last team to travel to Australia and return with the Ashes.
The six new individual inductees are:
James Lomas
James ‘Jimmy’ Lomas was one of the brightest talents in the years following the birth of the Northern Union in 1895.
A speedy winger or centre, Lomas made history by captaining Great Britain on their first-ever tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1910.
In a stellar 24-year career at centre or on the wing with Bramley, Salford, Oldham and York, Lomas made 535 senior appearances, scoring 304 tries and kicking 700 goals.
He twice broke the sport’s transfer record, firstly when he joined Salford from Bramley for £100 in 1901 and again 10 years later moved to Oldham for a fee of £300.
His 39 points for Salford in a match against Liverpool City in 1907 remains a club record.
James Lomas died in Manchester in February 1960, aged 80.
Alan Prescott
Alan Prescott made 404 appearances for St Helens between 1949 and 1960, mainly at prop, having begun his senior career as a 15-year-old winger with Halifax in 1945. He led Saints to victory at Wembley in 1956, winning the Lance Todd Trophy as player of the match in a 13-2 victory over his old club, Halifax.
He made 39 international appearances, 11 for England and 28 for Great Britain, 10 times as captain, including leading the 1958 Lions on a tour which saw him deliver one of the most remarkable and courageous performances in sporting history.
Great Britain had lost the first Test against Australia and had to win the second to keep their Ashes hopes alive. However, in just the fourth minute of the match in Brisbane, Prescott broke his right arm and in an era before substitutes were allowed, opted to stay on the field for the duration.
With his right arm dangling hopelessly by his side and pain coursing through his body, Prescott moved from prop to scrum-half and carried on making tackles and dictating play throughout a brutal game which saw Britain’s stand-off Dave Bolton leave the field with a broken collar bone and three other players seriously injured.
Thanks to Prescott’s inspired leadership, the Lions won 25-18 to level the series before securing the Ashes with a 40-17 success in the third Test decider, after which Prescott, his arm in a sling, was carried around the Sydney Cricket Ground on the shoulders of the victorious tourists.
Alan Prescott died in September 1998. He was 71.
Jane Banks
Jane Banks was capped 19 times by Great Britain during an illustrious career that saw her selected for four tours of the southern hemisphere, the first time as a 17-year-old in 1996 when she was an integral part of the Ashes-winning Lionesses squad.
She was named player of the tour on the 1998 series in New Zealand and took the player of the series award in the 2000 World Series played in the UK.
Banks played in a number of positions, starting at full-back and centre early in her career before switching to second row and prop later on, when she led from the front.
Blessed with speed and courageous in defence, she started her career as a junior at Wigan St Pats before playing for Warrington Ladies, Hindley Pumas, Bradford Thunderbirds and Warrington.
Michelle Land
Michelle Land captained Wakefield Panthers, the most successful club in women’s rugby league history, for 14 years and consistently proved herself as a leader of the highest order.
An intelligent organiser at hooker or half-back, as well as a voracious tackler, Land commanded the respect of all who played with, or against her.
She represented Great Britain on 16 occasions and was a three-time tourist in 1996, 1998 and 2002, as well as being named as Great Britain’s co-captain alongside fellow Hall of Famer Brenda Dobek in the 2000 World Series played on home soil.
Jamie Peacock MBE
Jamie Peacock is a true giant of the Super League era, a player who set high standards which he expected all around him to rise to.
He made 47 international appearances, 21 for England and 26 for Great Britain during an 18-year career with Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR.
The former Stanningley junior made his Super League debut with Bradford Bulls in 1999 and gained his first England call up the following season in the 2000 World Cup.
He was a two-time Challenge Cup Final winner and three-time Grand Final winner with Bradford before joining Leeds in 2006, when he went on to win a further six Grand Finals and two Challenge Cups, before his retirement in 2016.
Peacock was named Man of Steel in 2003 and was named in the Super League Dream team a record 11 times.
His international high point came in November 2006 when he captained Great Britain to a 23-12 victory over Australia in Sydney, scoring a try in the Lions’ first Test win in Australia for 14 years.
Paul Sculthorpe MBE
Paul Sculthorpe was twice named Man of Steel during an illustrious career with St Helens, England and Great Britain when he was recognised as one of the most athletic and talented players in the sport’s history.
Having played his junior rugby in his home-town of Oldham, Sculthorpe began his professional career at Warrington in 1995 and was selected by Great Britain for their 1996 Oceania tour, when he gained the first of 26 GB caps.
He joined Saints for a then world record fee of £375,000 the following year, going on to make 261 appearances for the club over the next 11 years. In that time, he helped St Helens to Super League Grand Final wins in 1999, 2000 and 2002, and Challenge Cup Final victories in 2001, 2004 and 2006, as well as three World Club Challenge titles.
He became the first player to be named Man of Steel in successive seasons in 2001 and 2002.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 501 (October 2024)
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