Bears and Queensland State of Origin legend Billy Moore is urging officials to recognise Irvine's freakish feats and posthumously name Australia's most prolific try-scorer as the first winger elevated to Immortal status.
"He should already be one. He ticks all the boxes," Moore told AAP.
In a truly extraordinary career, Irvine averaged more than a try a game at both Test and state level, bagging 33 in 31 matches for Australia and crossing 30 times in 24 appearances for NSW.
The son of a Sydney north shore butcher finished with 212 tries from just 236 club games for North Sydney and Manly to hold the premiership record for 57 years before South Sydney one-club hero Johnston broke the mythical mark last Friday night.
So fast that he broke the world 100-yard professional sprinting record in 1961, Irvine was named in the list of Australia's top 100 greatest rugby league players in 2008 and picked in the ARL's team of the 20th century.
Yet he is continually overlooked for Immortal status, with Ron Coote in 2024 the most recent inductee.
The other 13 Immortals are Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, John Raper, Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Andrew Johns, Dally Messenger, Frank Burge, Dave Brown, Norm Provan and Mal Meninga.
Moore, who scored two tries in North Sydney's first finals win in 39 years in 1991, hopes Irvine will become the first Bear inducted when the next Immortal is named in 2028.
"I always thought when they came to picking the Immortals that the glaring holes were Norm Provan and Ken Irvine," Moore said.
"They rectified it when they put Provan in, and I do believe the rectification for Ken Irvine should happen as well sooner rather than later.
"It just hasn't made sense ever since he was named in the team of the century."
Moore wonders how many more tries Irvine might have scored had he played in the modern era of wingers being allowed to take out corner posts.
Irvine also played more than half his career during the four-tackle era, which also limited try-scoring opportunities.
Without wishing to discredit Johnston's feat, Moore also pointed out that Irvine played on the end of a relatively ordinary North Sydney backline for 13 seasons, before swiftly helping Manly to back-to-back premierships in 1972-73.
"At the risk of disrespecting my beloved team, I guess I'm allowed to say a few begrudging words. He wasn't playing on a star-studded team with guys like Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker," the former Test star said.
"Yet he still had a phenomenal strike rate.
"I do love the Immortals concept. I'm a junkie for it and can't wait for the next instalment.
"I just hope the rectification for Ken Irvine happens because you are putting in someone who set a record for 57 years and no one could catch him."
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