Cameron Smith will be a rugby league Immortal. It's a matter of when, not if.
That's the view of the NRL's modern-day masters, many of whom believe Smith should one day be handed the game's greatest honour.
Smith emerged as potentially the most unlucky man from Wednesday night's Hall of Fame ceremony, as Ron Coote became rugby league's 14th Immortal.
Ahead of Wednesday night at the SCG, most believed it would be Smith or Coote who would be elevated to the game's highest echelon.
Coote won out, ending a 43-year wait on a night considered now or never for the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs lock.
It's unlikely Smith will have to wait that long.
Another induction is due in 2028, with the Melbourne hooker likely to be a leading contender until he is one day elevated to Immortal status.
"Yeah (it's inevitable)," Hall-of-Fame inductee Johnathan Thurston told AAP.
"And that's no disrespect to the rest that are around and the players that come before him. But it just speaks for itself."
Smith's record is impeccable: the most games played in premiership history with 430. Eight grand finals for five wins. A two-time Dally M Medallist and the best player in the world in 2007 and 2017.
He captained Australia in 33 of his 56 Tests, led the team to two World Cup wins and helped Queensland dominate State of Origin between 2006 and 2017.
"I think it's inevitable," Benji Marshall, himself a Hall-of-Fame inductee, said before the ceremony.
"You think about it, the guy was never injured. Had success at every level. Captained his country, state and club to multiple premierships, Origins and World Cups.
"What else do you have to do? And played 400-plus games in the toughest competition in the world.
"If that's not enough, then we're all stuffed."
The other question is: How many of Smith's Queensland teammates also eventually become Immortals?
Six players who debuted between 1957 and 1966 are now Immortals, in an era where club dynasties dominated the game.
Few eras have been more dominant than Queensland's run in Origin between 2006 and 2017.
Darren Lockyer is a regular contender to be an Immortal. Thurston is now eligible as a Hall of Fame member.
Billy Slater is too after changing the fullback role forever, as is Cooper Cronk after his six grand finals across two different clubs.
NRL procedure dictates one Immortal can be added every four years, and it seems likely the great Maroons side of the 2000s and 2010s one day will have multiple entries.
"You would think naturally, in time it happens," Smith said.
"How long that takes, I am not sure.
"When you look at guys like Thurston, Slater, Cronk, Inglis. They are generational players.
"They were individuals that changed the way the sport was played in a particular position."
