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Tributes are flowing for John Sattler, one of the toughest hombres who has ever played rugby league who famously played the majority of the 1970 Grand Final with a broken jaw.
A member of the NRL Hall of Fame, he died on Monday, aged 80. The former forward had been diagnosed with dementia three years ago.
Sattler, who grew up in Newcastle, played 346 first-class matches, including 195 for Souths from 1963-72, highlighted by four premiership victories as captain.
He suffered a broken jaw in the early stages of the 1970 Grand Final against Manly after he was punched by opposing forward John Bucknall but refused to leave the field and the images of the bloodied and bandaged Souths skipper being chaired off the field by his teammates after the match at the SCG is one of the most famous in the sport’s history.
According to Rabbitohs folklore, when Sattler suffered the fractured jaw he his teammates to hold him up so the Sea Eagles would not how badly hurt he was.
He soldiered on almost the entire game with the injury as the Bunnies wrapped up a 23-12 victory although he was then ruled out of Australia’s end-of-year World Cup campaign when he was a candidate to captain the team.
“It was two minutes into the grand final and I got king-hit by John Bucknall. Then John Morgan got me soon after and I ended up with four separate breaks in my jaw. But I got through and we won,” he recalled in a 2017 interview.
Sattler captained Australia three times in his four Tests in the green and gold and also represented NSW in the pre-State of Origin era.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a lifelong Rabbitohs fan, was among the many on social media who paid tribute to Sattler.
“John Sattler was a legendary player who was tough on the field but a true gentleman off it. He was an inspirational leader who, decades after his retirement, took his rightful place at the front of the marches for South Sydney’s reinstatement.”
The Rabbitohs will wear black armbands for their clash with Manly this weekend.
“If anyone is to epitomise the true spirit of the South Sydney Rabbitohs it is John Sattler,” chairman Nicholas Pappas said in a statement.
“He bled red and green. He would do anything for his team mates. He never took a backwards step. He always led from the front.
“He was loved by everyone connected with the Rabbitohs, whether it be one of his former teammates who he led to premiership glory, or the man in the street who loved South Sydney just as much as he did.
“He was tough and brave but fair, uncompromising on the field and empathetic off it, and he truly epitomised everything that we want the Rabbitohs to be.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys described Sattler as “a legend of the game”.
“The tales of his toughness were quite extraordinary, but they were also at odds with his nature off the field. He was a true gentleman.
“Those traits made him such a remarkable and celebrated leader. He captained his club South Sydney as well as his country on three occasions.”
His son, Scott, also tasted premiership glory with his own individual moment of triumph in pulling off a memorable cover tackle during Penrith’s 2003 upset over the Roosters.
Sattler did not play rugby league much as a boy but after taking up the sport when he was 16, he joined his local club in Kurri Kurri.
He caught the eye of South Sydney when he starred for a Newcastle representative team against Great Britain in 1962 and joined the club the following year.
After starting out at lock, he moved up to prop and was chosen for the Kangaroo tour in 1967 after leading the Bunnies to the premiership which broke St George’s run of 11 straight titles.
He finished with the Rabbitohs in 1972 but continued his playing career with Wests and Norths in the Brisbane competition for three more seasons before finally hanging up his boots.
A successful businessman, he was part of the consortium which established the Gold Coast franchise in 1988.