The St George District Rugby League Football Club have unveiled four new inductees into the 'Legends Walk' at Kogarah's Netstrata Jubilee Stadium - Harry Bath, Mark Gasnier, Doug McRitchie and Neville Smith.
All four players made the District's 'Team of the Century' in July as part of St George Illawarra founding club St George's delayed centenary celebrations.
"The legend's walk is a unique memorial that recognises the personal contributions to the success of rugby league in the St George District since 1921 and we are delighted to see Harry, Mark, Neville and Doug inducted," St George District Rugby League Football Club and St George Illawarra Dragons Chairman Craig Young said.
Former St George player and coach Harry Bath was a ball-playing forward who won a grand final in each of his three years as a player (1957-59) and broke the club's point-scoring record in 1958 with 225 points.
Bath was also one of the game's greatest coaches –starting with St George's reserves in 1960 before coaching Balmain, Newtown and Australia before famously returning to St George to win premierships in 1977 and 1979.
Centre Mark Gasnier, a St George local junior from the Renown United Club, played 174 games for the St George Illawarra Dragons (2000-2008, 2010-2011).
Gasnier captained St George Illawarra in 2007 and 2008, won the Dragons Medal in 2006 and was part of the Dragons' 2010 premiership win. Gasnier was widely regarded as the best centre of his generation playing 44 Tests for Australia and 12 State of Origins for New South Wales.
Centre Doug McRitchie played for St George between 1942-44 and 1946-50 and was the only man to play in all three of St George's grand finals in the 1940s (1942, 1946 and 1949).
He played 81 games for the club (28 as captain) and played four interstate matches for NSW and six Tests for Australia.
Neville Smith was a back-rower who holds a special place in the history of the club, as the captain-coach of the first St George team to win a first grade premiership (1941).
Smith played 59 games as captain-coach between 1929-41 and 1943 and scored 281 points in a career that was cut short through injury.
He was the NSW Rugby League premiership's leading point scorer in 1939 and played for NSW between 1940-41. Smith would have been a Test certainty if not for international rugby league's absence throughout World War II.
The legend's walk was officially opened on March 6, 2004 by immortal Norm Provan and now has 26 inductees: Harry Bath, Mark Gasnier, Doug McRitchie, Neville Smith, Ben Creagh, Ben Hornby, Jason Nightingale, the inaugural Dragons team (1921), Brian Clay, Mark Coyne, Reg Gasnier, Ken Kearney, Johnny King, Graeme Langlands, Eddie Lumsden, Matt McCoy, Noel Pidding, Norm Provan, John Raper, Rod Reddy, Kevin Ryan, Billy Smith, Robert Stone, Ian Walsh, Billy Wilson and Craig Young.
