The NRL have confirmed they will name another Immortal in August, and reports have already jumped to the conclusion that Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston are in the mix.

That comes with the NRL altering the rules, allowing players to be addmitted to the Hall of Fame just three years after their retirement.

There is little doubt that Smith and Thurston will be among the group of players added to the Hall of Fame at the ceremony, with a fair chance Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk will join them.

But the NRL simply can not admit any of those players as Immortals yet. The Immortals concept is supposed to recognise the greatest players in the history of the game, and while there is little doubt those players are going to be there one day, now would be too soon.

They were widely panned for adding Andrew Johns too early back in 2012, and can't afford to make the same mistake here, particularly given the number of other candidates who should be considered from previous generations, including one of Johns' great rivals.

Here are ten players the NRL should be considering for the next Immortal spot.

This story was originally published in July.

6. Ron Coote

A star of the 1960s and 70s, Coote played 257 top flight games between 1964 and 1978, splitting his career between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.

A forward who could find the tryline, scoring 87, he played 15 matches for New South Wales and 23 Tests for Australia where he also scored 13 tries.

At club level, he was a six-time premiership winner, in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974 and 1975, while he was also named the NSWRL player of the year in 1969, 1970, 1975 and 1977.

A member of the Australian Rugby League and New South Wales Team of the Century, he was also named to the NRL's team of the 1960s and 1970s.

He also captained Australia on three occasions.