During the era of LOCH, the Greats were all of the same generation. Only Central Divinity Wong Chung Yeung was significantly older than the others, and he was still close enough to them in age to be considered of the same generation.
The same was not true of the time period at the end of ROCH. Two of the Greats (East Heretic Wong Yerk See and South Monk 1 Deng) were holdovers from the previous generation, and Central Mischief Chow Bak Tung, though only newly christened a Great, was of the same generation as well. North Hero Gwok Jing was an entire generation younger, however, and West Passionate Yeung Gor was a generation younger than even Gwok Jing.
In traditional Chinese society, the venerability of age means *everything*. The seniors are given priority over the juniors simply as a virtue of their greater age (and implied greater wisdom and experience). That said, by the end of ROCH, the achievements of the senior Greats were long in the past. What great feat or service had 1 Deng performed in wulin recently at the end of ROCH? His most recent moment of glory was some seventy years earlier at the First Mt. Hua Sword Tournament. Wong Yerk See had a much more recent contribution by serving as the de facto leader of the operation to rescue Gwok Seung from the Golden Wheel Monk, but other than that, he'd been MIA in wulin for the preceding thirty years. Chow Bak Tung was much more active during that period, but he was known for his mischief, not his heroism. Any heroic acts that Chow performed during those years were fortunate accidents of his behavior rather than the products of heroic intent.
That leaves Gwok Jing and Yeung Gor. The former defended Seung Yeung steadfastly for the preceding two decades, while the latter greatly disrupted the invasion plans of the Mongols by killing many of their troops and even killing their Khan, Mongke. Gwok Jing and Yeung Gor were foremost in the hearts and minds of the people of Seung Yeung as heroes, as they had most recently performed great heroic feats on behalf of the population.
Given these factors, at the end of ROCH, did people hold the elder Greats (East Heretic, South Monk, and Central Mischief) in higher esteem due to their greater seniority, or were the younger Greats (North Hero, West Passionate) more highly regarded due to their more recent records of heroism?