Lleyton Hewitt, Cameron Smith inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Australian tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt called it “surreal” and NRL legend Cameron Smith an “incredible honour” as the iconic duo were among six new inductees to the ultimate collection of sporting champions in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Recently named an official AFL legend, goalkicking great Jason Dunstall, Netball World Cup winning captain Laura Geitz, Australia’s most capped Socceroo Mark Schwarzer and Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Torah Bright rounded out the superstar six.

They joined the absolute elite, the best in Australian sport ever, including Sir Donald Bradman, Dawn Fraser and Cathy Freeman, in the Hall of Fame, which recognises only the top echelon of athletes who have achieved the highest honours at the peak level of competition.

Hewitt, a two-time grand slam winner and former world No. 1, a ranking he held for 75 consecutive weeks, is already in the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Australian Tennis Hall of Fame but was blown away by the latest honours.

“It’s pretty surreal to be honest,” he said.

“When you’re playing your professional career it’s not something you think about at all or focus on, but over the years growing up in Australia we’ve had such a rich history, not only in our sport of tennis, but also in so many other great sports as well, that I’ve had so many great role models and idols that I’ve looked up to, all there in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

“So for me now to be inducted is an incredible honour.’’

Smith, the first and only player to reach 400 NRL games as well as 42 State of Origin matches for Queensland and 56 Tests for the Kangaroos, including 33 as his nation’s captain, was also a multiple premiership skipper with the Melbourne Storm.

But he said his legacy was growing rugby league in his adopted home state.

“It is an incredible honour, one that I will forever hold with great pride,” he said of his induction.

“It’s also a reminder of the people who supported me throughout my entire rugby league journey. My parents, my sister and brother, my wife Barb and our three children. Without their love and support I would not have achieved what I did. For that I will always be grateful.

“Being the first person to play 400 NRL games will always be on top of the personal achievements in my sporting career. On a broader scale, playing a role in the growth of rugby league in Victoria as a member of the Melbourne Storm provides me with immense satisfaction.

“I will always be grateful for being a part of such an extraordinary organisation.”

Dunstall booted an incredible 1254 goals from 269 games with Hawthorn and is one of only six players in VFL/AFL history to break through the 1000-goal threshold, while also playing in four premierships (1986, 1988, 1989, 1991).

“It’s an amazing honour and great privilege to be considered a worthy induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame,” he said.

“Quite humbling given the depth of Australian sport and the incredible quality of our sporting stars.”

Netball icon Geitz was a member of two Netball World Cup-winning teams in 2011 and 2015, the latter as the Diamonds captain in a home country triumph in Sydney, and also led Australia to Commonwealth Games glory in Glasgow in 2014.

Schwarzer was part of three World Cup campaigns with the Socceroos and played at the highest level in the UK for two decades.

His iconic saves changed Australia’s World Cup fortunes, stopping two penalties against Uruguay in a 2006 qualifier, and etched his name in Australian football history.

Bright is Australia’s most successful winter Olympians, having captured one gold and one silver medal across three Olympic Games and also carried Australia’s flag at the opening ceremony in Vancouver in 2010.