V’landys slams HOF critics amid 2-hour lunch claims

ARL chairman Peter V’landys defended the selection process for rugby league’s Immortals and Hall of Fame, despite a report claiming it was rushed, with selectors left with little time to debate issues..
A Sydney Morning Herald report states the decision over admitting the 25 inductees in the Hall-of-Fame and Ron Coote’s Immortal nod was decided inn the space of two hours, which included a lunch.
The report claims a lack of knowledge of the female Hall of Fame contenders also resulted in every nominated athlete being admitted.
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The naming of Les Boyd to the Hall-of-Fame also raised eyebrows, with several keen judges calling for an overhaul of the process. Andrew Johns also slammed the process criticising how he was not consulted.
In the past, a mix of existing Immortals, other Hall of Fame members, as well as top administrators and media were on the panel.
For this induction, a new voting system was used, which consisted of a 14-person panel, mainly of journalists.
Speaking to The SMH, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys hit back at the criticism.
“I appreciate everyone is entitled to an opinion, however it’s disappointing that rather than celebrating our Hall of Famers and Immortal we try to find fault,” he said.
“We have had four years to consider who should be inducted. We had a committee meeting last year. We expanded the committee this year to have greater Queensland knowledge.
“The committee for the first time included two women. There were nine journalists on the committee, each with at least 25 years’ experience, with four having over 40 years’ experience.
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“The NRL historian drafted a bio on each person considered. Committee members could nominate others.
“I have never seen in rugby league before the universal acceptance of Ron Coote as the Immortal. So the committee got it 100 per cent right.”