Indigenous 20th century greats, golden era champions and a national sporting pioneer will have their legacies further branded into rugby league with the announcement of the NRL's Hall of Fame class of 2024.
Queensland quartet Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis, Steve Renouf and the late Lionel Morgan are among the list of 11 inductees to be recognised in formal ceremony at the SCG on August 21.
Thurston remains a strong presence in the game six years on from his retirement after 17 seasons and an unprecedented four Dally M medals.
Almost certainly the Cowboys' greatest-ever, Thurston arrived in Townsville after lifting the 2004 premiership trophy in his third year with debut club Canterbury.
Arguably his greatest moment is the drop-goal in extra time to claim the Cowboys' maiden and sole grand final success in 2015.
Thurston was a key cog in the Maroons' eight-straight State of Origin series wins, with 11 shields overall, and retired as the Kangaroos all-time leading scorer after close to 40 tests.
He is also a six-time Indigenous All Stars representative.
Inglis still ignites debate, comparison and misery amongst NSW supporters after a devastating career littered with Origin success in the Maroons jumper, and an NRL career regarded amongst the best ever carved out.
G.I began his career as a lightning-fast scoring threat with Melbourne in 2005, before developing into one of the game's biggest names and stitching himself into the fabric of South Sydney history.
A premiership player with the Rabbitohs in their 2014 drought-breaking win over the Bulldogs, Inglis played his final NRL game in 2019 having also played 39 times for his country and 32 times for his state as a backline utility.
Renouf still carries the mantle as the Brisbane Broncos' all-time leading try scorer.
Who guessed it was The Pearl - Steve Renouf?! pic.twitter.com/H1YwLUKKxl
— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) April 20, 2020
A club icon, Renouf won four premierships with the club through the 1990's and boasts a highlight reel which competes with the best.
"Ultimately it is a credit (Hall of Fame induction) to my family, all of my teammates at all levels, the Broncos and Wayne, who of course made me the footy player I was," Renouf told AAP.
"I went to the Broncos as a 17-year-old and far from perfect, but with Wayne and the team around me I became a lot better rugby league player.
One of just two 2024 inductees to have played prior to the national competition-era, Lionel Morgan has a storied history in Queensland rugby league.
The Wynnum Manly Seagulls great, Morgan is recognised as the first Indigenous athlete to represent Australia in any major code.
It's understood special passport arrangements were made allowing Morgan to tour overseas and for the World Cup in England with the Kangaroos in 1960, just a year after arriving at the Seagulls.
"He was a sensation," long-time friend and Wynnum clubman Jim Geraghty told National Indigenous Times in 2023.
"Straight in, straight to the top…that's how good he was."
Like many, Geraghty remembered Morgan as not only a player to admire, but one of the game's great gentlemen.
Morgan's son, Earl, is too young to have seen his dad's on-field prowess, but takes as much pride into hearing the compliments for his character as a weapon on the wing and pioneer.
"It's an honour to have people speak in that view of how he is," Earl Morgan told National Indigenous Times.
"That's one of the most highly-regarded things someone can say about a person…it's overwhelming.
Morgan passed away aged 85 in September 2023.
