Devils’ Legends: Cronk, Inglis, Slater, and Smith Inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame
Four of the Devils’ greatest graduates have been announced as the latest inductees into the NRL Hall of Fame.
Generational players Cooper Cronk, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith were yesterday among 11 “pioneers, record-breakers, and game-changers” announced as 2024 inductees.
They join other former Devils players and coaches in the 126-strong Hall of Fame, including Clive Churchill, Barry Muir, John Sattler, Tommy Raudonikis, Steve Walters and Mark Graham.
Smith, Cronk and Slater played together for the first time in the Norths Under 19 team before going on to make their senior football debuts for the Devils in 2001.
Smith became one of the Devils’ youngest first-grade captains through his 28 games played across 2001 and 2002, scoring nine tries and kicking 76 goals.
Slater was signed to a Devils contract after driving from his hometown of Innisfail for the last trial match of the season. He would play 24 first-grade matches for the Devils in 2001 and 2002 and one appearance in 2006 for 16 tries and one goal.
Cronk played 61 matches for the Devils from 2001-2005 before his NRL career was established. He scored 37 tries during that time.
He was joined in the Devils’ first-grade squad in 2004 by Inglis, who had a remarkable burst during his Norths career. Inglis played 17 games for the Devils and scored 26 tries including four in one match. He also kicked 45 goals for Norths.
“We congratulate the players, and we could not be more proud of what they have achieved in their careers,” Devils CEO Troy Rovelli said.
“To have four generational players of this calibre come through the club is incredibly rare, and we consider ourselves extremely fortunate. We are a pathway club, creating opportunities for players, coaches, and other staff to progress to the fulltime level. There is no better advertisement of that pathway than these four exceptional players.
“They first played together at the Devils and would go on to forge combinations that transformed the game through the first two decades of this century.
“They set an example for our current players in showing the values of hard work and persistence. Cooper Cronk is a fine example of that, playing across five seasons for Norths before he went on to play most of his 372 NRL games.”
The players will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame next week when the NRL also announces its latest Immortal.
Devil # 950 – Cooper Cronk (2001-2005): 61 games, 37 tries.
Devil # 1006 Greg Inglis (2004-05) 17 games, 26 tries, 45 goals
Devil # 942 Billy Slater (2001-02, 2006) 24 games, 16 tries
Devil # 943 Cameron Smith (2001-02): 28 games, 9 tries, 76 goals