The passing of South’s legend John Sattler this year gave me pause to remember not only one of the Rabbitohs’ greatest players, but also the pack of forwards he led in their remarkable run of success between 1967 and 1971, when they won four premierships from five grand-final appearances.
They won in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971, and only their controversial 11-2 defeat by Balmain in 1969 stopped them from winning five titles in a row for the second time in the club’s history.
I was too young to witness the great St George packs during their record 11-year premiership run, and in an era where big games were decided by forwards, Sattler’s wrecking crew lives on as the most dominant pack of forwards I have ever seen.
Souths used a core group of 10 forwards during Sattler’s five-year grand final run, a feat remarkable in itself, and what a line-up they could boast. How was any team going to compete with the likes of the following crew?
John Sattler – The man himself. Sattler played nearly 200 games for South Sydney after joining them from Kurri Kurri in 1963, and he captained them in five grand finals.
He famously achieved Rabbitoh immortal status for his courage in playing through the 1970 decider with a broken jaw, and a legend was born.
Sattler was as hard and uncompromising forward on the field as he was a quietly spoken gentleman off it, and he was a born leader. Where Sattler went, the rest of the Souths pack followed. In a testament to his reputation as a leader, he also captained New South Wales, Queensland and Australia during his career.
John Sattler in 2014. (Photo by Renee McKay/Getty Images)
Ron Coote – But for the existence of rugby league immortal Johnny Raper, Ron Coote would be hailed as the greatest lock forward of all time.
Some argue he was even better than Raper. He was a South Sydney junior and played nearly 150 games for the club and was a big part of their grand-final run and success.
Coote was very mobile, was a great cover-defender and an excellent ball player, but he could play the game as tough as anyone when required.
His departure from the club in 1972, along with the loss of Ray Branighan and John O’Neill, was a key factor in Souths’ golden era coming to an end.
Coote won two more premierships with the Roosters after leaving Souths and notched up 15 games for NSW and 23 tests for Australia in a stellar career.
Bob McCarthy – McCarthy was a big, mobile forward with a great turn of speed who perfected the wide running forward game.
He was almost unstoppable on his day, running in 119 first-grade tries in his career, with none better than his length-of-the-field intercept try to win the 1967 grand final for the Rabbitohs.
A Souths junior, McCarthy played over 200 games for the club, winning three premierships, and he also played 14 tests for Australia and 12 games for NSW.
Paul Sait – Sait was a very versatile player, as evidenced by the fact that he played centre, lock and second row in his 16 test match appearances for Australia.
He just had to be selected somewhere. He made his first-grade debut for Souths in 1968 and went on to play 160 games for the club.
Sait was a rugged competitor and never took a backward step, but the hot competition for places in the Souths pack often saw him playing centre. He played four grand finals for Souths, winning three, and he also played 16 tests for Australia and five games for NSW.
John O’Neill – Every good leader needs a brutal henchman, and there was none better suited for this task than O’Neill, who had a deserved reputation as one of the most feared and ruthless forwards in the game.
He came from the country to join Souths in 1965 and played in each of the grand finals in their five-year run. He joined Manly in 1972 and played a large part in the Sea Eagles seizing dominance from Souths to win premierships in both 1972 and 1973, and he also played nine tests for Australia and six games for NSW.
Jim Morgan – Although he played in only one grand final (1968) during Souths’ five-year run, Morgan was nevertheless an important part of their side, and also one of their toughest competitors.
He was a more than able backup for either Sattler or O’Neill when required. He joined Souths from Maitland in 1965 and played 59 games for the Rabbitohs before joining the Roosters in 1970.
He also played two tests for Australia and eight times for NSW.
Elwyn Walters – Back in the day when hookers actually worked for a living, there was none better than Walters, who not only dominated opponents in the scrums but was also a clever forward with the ball in his hands and an uncompromising defender.
Walters played 192 games in his career and played in each of the 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 grand finals, only missing the 1971 decider through injury. He won five premierships in his career, three with Souths and two later with the Roosters. A very durable player, Walters played 12 games for NSW and 21 games for Australia.
Bob Moses – Moses was another Souths player who was equally adept at playing centre, lock and second row, and along with Sait, gave the Rabbitohs great depth and versatility.
He joined Souths from Newcastle in 1965 and played centre in that year’s grand final. He also played centre in the 1967 grand final before reverting to second row for both the 1968 and 1969 deciders.
He played just under 100 games for Souths before heading to Manly in 1970 to finish his career.
Gary Stevens – In an era of tough competitors, there were none tougher than Stevens, a punishing defender who rarely missed his man.
He spent 12 years with Souths after debuting in 1965 and was a very important part of their forward strength, winning premierships in both 1970 and 1971.
He captained the club in his final season with the Rabbitohs in 1976, and played 10 tests for Australia and seven games for NSW.
George Piggins – They do not come any more cardinal and myrtle than Piggins, who was pound for pound one of the toughest forwards ever to play the game.
Coming into first grade at the same time as Walters, Piggins struggled for a first-grade start but was nonetheless a vital part of the Souths forward squad, and no one played the game harder than the diminutive fighter.
He finally got his chance at premiership glory in 1971 when he replaced the injured Walters and went on to play 12 seasons with the Rabbitohs.
What a line-up. I doubt if we will see the likes of a forward pack resembling John Sattler’s ‘wrecking crew’ again.
William W
Roar Rookie
Everyone talks about Balmain and 1969 but if they had today's video Ref in place, the Rabbitohs would have led 3 nil early in the first half, possibly 5 nil if Simmsy kicked the conversion. You see Brian James scored a fair try at the Members' corner in front of the Noble Stand. The touch judged waved him touch in goal and NO TRY... A slow-motion frame-by-frame video replay showed that the Balmain winger took out the corner post, NOT James, video evidence actually did confirm that he did in fact get the ball down... That would have been 3 or 5 nil early in the first half, considering the final score was 11 to 2, the Rabbitohs may well have broken the Tiggers early.
William W
Roar Rookie
Tony... The Rich clubs could afford it. Canterbury pinched Wests and Newtown players, St George pinched Sharks players, Easts pinched Souths players and Parra pinched Penrith players... Manly pinched everyone's players but preferred Norths, Souths and Newtown players. Not sure about Norths and Balmain. The poorer clubs like Souths, Newtown, Wests and Cronulla could not keep any of their very best kids.
Tony
Roar Guru
Thanks for your insight William. Those sort of dollars show just why players began to change clubs in the early 70s.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Top shelf banter, Pickett. Keep it coming. I won't have anything to laugh at until the Rabbitohs play the Roosters (minus Jack Wighton) in round 3, 2024. What a coincidence that the Roosters drew Souths in the last week of Wighton's suspension. I don't suppose Nick Politis had any influence on that, do you Pickett? :silly:
William W
Roar Rookie
They are a great pack of forwards who always get the credit but the Souths' backs were also fantastic, Money wrecked the Rabbitohs but so did their antiquated board. I remember my dad who did play for the Rabbitohs in the 50s, he said that many Rabbitohs players were underpaid as the thinking back then was that you worked all week for a living and was paid so you play for the jersey on the weekend being a sport. The game was always professional and compared to today's standards, it seems they played for a pittance... But they didn't, compared to the average or minimum wage of any era the players still were paid reasonably well. Let us use John O'Neil as an example... When he left Souths to go to Manly for money he signed on for $10,000 plus $200 per win and $100 per loss... He said so himself in an Interview years later... In 1972 he played 17 games, winning 15, Drew 1 and a loss for a total of $3,250 plus his sign-on fee so a Total of $13,250.00 He possibly would have received a bonus for winning the comp. Back then the players trained for 2 hours, 2 or 3 times per week and played 80 minutes on game day. A total of about 7 hours per week, let us say 8 hours just to go over... Pre-seasons ran for 8 weeks including trials with the season lasting for some 24 weeks so 32 weeks in total. In 1972 the Minimum wage was $2 per hour, 40 hours per week OR $4,160.00 per annum. The Average wage was $6,302.00 per annum. How does $13,250.00 look for 32 weeks of work at 8 hours per week? Pretty darn good if we break it down that is roughly $51.75 per hour. Sure there was other work that could be included but not calculated such as Interviews, Meet the fans days, team BBQs, Junior Presentation commitments, sponsors and so on but pretty bloody good.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I haven't heard of a scrum after every tackle but what it reminds me of is the creeping barrage that helped to persuade the English to end unlimited tackles. Leading teams would close shop because it gave the team in possession the option to completely monopolize possession, simply by the dummy half not passing or kicking. Run from dummy-half, play-the-ball, run from dummy-half, play-the-ball, run from dummy-half etc. etc. etc.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
That's a plausible outcome of a 4-tackle handover but the result of the 4-tackle scrum was a game saturated with scrums and scrum penalties. Scrums were repacked for various reasons and together with the time lost while the kicker prepared to kick there was less time for playing the game. Another big difference was the field goal went from never used to a necessary skill. From my point of view scrums were an unpleasant aspect of the game, winning possession for another set. Kicking was frowned upon if it gave up possession, so teams did kick for touch. I didn't like playing opposite a prop who was greater in weight by 60% but scrummaging was important.
MartinA
Roar Rookie
I don't think you are right there Tim. At 4 tackles then a handover, it is far more likely the game would have become a game of kick, kick, kick. You would have a limited set of hit ups before needing to kick, and that would necessitate even more structure than what we have now. Probably just as many scrums as teams kicked for touch. The fact that everyone talks about how much more open the game became immediately also suggests they got it right, at least initially. I think the Brits had trialled a scrum after every tackle which may have swayed them towards a handover rather than scrum, and I can see how that would be unplayable.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes, he did in 1967 when Balmain beat Souths 11 - 7. There would not be many coaches who did that, and I don't have the data to check. Both Balmain and St.George played in many 2nd grade grand finals. In 1984 Balmain who had won 15 premierships were playing St.George who had been runner-up 15 times. Naturally, Balmain beat St.George 10-8.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I didn't know Artie would be suspended when I made that prediction, but I don't think it would have changed my mind. It was understandable that Souths were hot favourites because they had a pack full of Kangaroos and Balmain had lost theirs. The semi-final win was based on a strong defence that was necessary to beat Souths. In the grand final they did even better and did not allow one try although they did seem to go down for quite a few breathers.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
The 1973 Grandfinal is remembered as the most violent in Rugby League history. Ex south’s forward Lurch O’Neill was dominant and at the centre of nearly every skirmish and fight. Whilst the Grandfinal will be remembered for Bozo Fulton’s tries, the forward dominance from O’Neill set the platform.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
Tony
Roar Guru
Apparently Smith was injured and wanted to take one of the opposition with him :stoked:
Albo
Roar Rookie
Lurch O'Neill was a brute of a prop. I still remember him taking on the whole pommie pack in the 1970 World Cup Final at Headingly, where coat-hangers and head shots were the order of the day. Our props, Lurch and Bob O'reilly had plenty of claret pouring as they mixed it with tough boys Mal Reilly, Dougie Laughton & Cliff Watson . Coincidentally, Billy Smith and another grubby pom, Sid Hynes were both sent off as a token gesture, late in the match.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! As a schoolboy , I was at the 1969 GF yelling for the Tigers. I think the main reason the result was such an upset was that Balmain's Artie Beetson was sent off in the Prelim Final after decking Manly fullback Bobby Batty and he was suspended for the GF. All the experts gave the Tigers little chance without Artie against the Souths team of internationals looking for their threepeat !
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Yes, they used some "interesting" tactics, but the reality is, the Tigers pack at least matched Souths and kept their attack scoreless while getting across the line themselves. A genuine upset for sure, but as you said, they had some very good players who probably played the best game of their lives that day.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
The Balmain win was without Beetson as well, who was suspended for the Grandfinal. Even more of an achievement.It was a very good Tigers outfit. Forwards led by Peter Provan, and they had a great halfback in Dave Bolton.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
Even Bozo Fulton ended up at Easts in 1976, a year too late to snag another premiership.
Lord Ted Said
Roar Rookie
Yeah yeah. Extra starch to try and make up for the sad situation of being THE BERRIES. Not sure if they were strawberries, or raspberries, maybe blueberries? I’m thinking mulberries…
Lord Ted Said
Roar Rookie
Ron Coote lost his house at Conjola on the NSW south Coast in 2019. A friend put him up in a house a bit further down the coast and i saw him all the time, taking the garbage out etc. Lovely, lovely bloke. Can’t speak highly enough of him. He wasn’t the only one of the souths cohort who were down there, and they all had to deal with that. Ron was so charming that I had to confess I was all in on Rod Reddy giving him some stick. He just smiled and said he was a good bloke and a good footballer. They don’t make them like that anymore.