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Sonny Bill Williams, Benji Marshall backed as first potential Kiwi Immortal

July 2, 2020
Williams this morning confirmed that he will join the Toronto Wolfpack.

Rugby league greats Brad Fittler and Andrew Johns have backed Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall respectively to become the first Kiwi Immortal of the game.

An Immortal is recognised as a someone who played the game and was considered one of the greatest ever to do so - "To be chosen as an Immortal is the greatest honour a player can receive and it is widely considered that to earn the accolade he needs to have changed the game or had an impact beyond his career," the NRL Hall of Fame says.

So far, 13 players have been given such a status but none are New Zealanders. The closest Kiwi players have gotten is an induction into the NRL Hall of Fame where Mark Graham, Ruben Wiki and Stacey Jones all are.

During a segment on Freddy and the Eight - a Nine Wide World of Sports podcast - Fittler and Johns were asked who they would pick to be the first New Zealander deserving of the honour.

Fittler opted for Williams despite him only playing seven seasons in the NRL throughout his code-swapping career.

“If you are taking about an Immortal, it would be the extreme – the best," Fittler said of Williams.

“I think a couple of times Sonny Bill was the best. It was a shame he left our game, for whatever reason, but those couple of years he came back and proved to me that he stood above everyone else.

In Williams' NRL career, he won two NRL titles with the Bulldogs [2004] and Roosters [2013] and picked up the Golden Boot for international player of the year in 2013.

After hanging up his rugby boots for good in 2019, Williams swapped back to rugby league this year but did so in the north, opting to play for recently-promoted Super League team, the Toronto Wolfpack.

“Hopefully we get him back [in the NRL]. He’s playing over in England at the moment but it would be good to see him playing in Australia," Fittler added.

“In those couple of years he did play, I thought he proved [he was an Immortal].’’

Johns - one of the 13 Immortals, himself - picked Marshall instead of Williams.

“He's played at the top for a long time, I just love the way he’s influenced other players,’’ Johns said.

“He’s had some great moments, and he’s influenced so many young players to play the game.

“Well done Benj, great career and I hope you play on."

Marshall got off to a strong start in this year's NRL campaign with the West Tigers but was surprisingly dropped by coach Michael Maguire for the last four games due to his defence.

It's led some punters to suggest Marshall should be loaned to under-performing Warriors this season - something Johns said he'd "love to see".

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