- Fans have shared their thoughts on the Hall of Fame ceremony
- Tonight the NRL will inaugurate a new Immortal
- But viewers were annoyed by the loud background noise in Sydney
The NRL Hall of Fame ceremony got underway on Wednesday night, but it’s safe to say fans at home were distracted by one annoying detail during the illustrious awards ceremony.
Eleven former players were inducted into the Sydney Men’s Hall of Fame, including Sam Burgess, Cameron Smith and Les Boyd, while Ron Coote was given immortal status.
The football world descended on the SCG for the black tie event, with the legends being introduced one by one over dinner.
However, fans complained en masse on social media that they could not hear what was being said on stage properly, because of the clatter of cutlery and plates in the background.
“If the audio mix tried to amplify the records, this would be a pretty impressive feat,” said one fan on Reddit.
Another added: ‘Yeah, who’s banging signs to protest all Queenslanders?’
“I wish the sound of cutlery hitting plates was louder,” another fan said sarcastically. “I really don’t want to hear my literal GOATS induction speech.”
“I hope they hooked up the dishwasher,” said another.
Fans watched in amazement at the NRL Hall of Fame ceremony on Wednesday
“Is there a Greek wedding in the back?” asked one surprised fan. “What’s going on?”
Elsewhere, Ron Coote was officially unveiled as the latest Immortal at a gala dinner at the SCG on Wednesday, a reward for a career that dominated the 1960s and 70s.
Coote was chosen over Cameron Smith, Darren Lockyer, Allan Langer, Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater and Ken Irvine.
Coote had long been considered a leading candidate for the title of Immortal and had been considered for all previous nominations.
But he was narrowly overlooked each time, suggesting the opportunity eluded him.
But Wednesday night’s promotion changes that situation in many ways for one of the greatest players ever.
The tall forward won the championship four times with South Sydney between 1967 and 1971, before moving to Eastern Suburbs where he won two more in 1974 and 1975.
He was named man of the match in the 1971 deciding match and is one of only five players to have appeared in nine major finals.
Such was his stature that the great Arthur Beetson once described Coote as “the best player in the world in major finals”.