The rugby league group is paying tribute to South Sydney’s four-time premiership captain John Sattler, who has died. He was aged 80.
Key factors:
- Sattler captained the Rabbitohs to 4 premierships between 1967 and 1971
- He performed a lot of the 1970 grand closing with a damaged jaw
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was amongst these to pay their respects to Sattler
Sattler is considered one in all the greats of the sport, having famously led the Rabbitohs to victory within the 1970 grand closing towards Manly after struggling a damaged jaw through the opening phases of the match.
He captained the Rabbitohs to 4 premierships between 1967 and 1971.
Sattler performed 4 Exams for Australia and represented each New South Wales and Queensland on the interstate degree.
He was named as one in all Australia’s best 100 gamers in 2008, the identical 12 months he was inducted as a member of the NRL Corridor of Fame.
His son Scott — a premiership-winning rugby league participant in his personal proper — revealed in June 2021 that his father had been battling dementia since early 2020.
“If anybody is to epitomise the true spirit of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, it’s John Sattler,” South Sydney chair Nicholas Pappas stated in a press release.
“He bled pink and inexperienced. He would do something for his teammates. He by no means took a backwards step. He all the time led from the entrance.”
Mr Pappas stated Sattler was adored by Rabbitohs teammates and followers.
“He was beloved by everybody related with the Rabbitohs, whether or not or not it’s one in all his former teammates who he led to premiership glory or the person on the street who beloved South Sydney simply as a lot as he did,” he stated.
“He was powerful and courageous however truthful, uncompromising on the sector and empathetic off it, and he actually epitomised every little thing that we wish the Rabbitohs to be.
“His favorite saying was ‘I play to win — everybody is aware of that’. There’s nothing extra ‘South Sydney Rabbitohs’ than that.
“He all the time held the Rabbitohs expensive to his coronary heart and everybody right here on the Rabbitohs all the time held ‘Satts’ expensive to ours.
“Our deepest and most honest condolences exit to his son Scott and the whole Sattler household, his former teammates, and all of his mates that he has touched through the years.
“Relaxation in peace, ‘Satts’.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who’s a lifelong Rabbitohs supporter, stated watching Sattler play was a “privilege”.
“John Sattler was a legendary participant who was powerful on the sector however a real gentleman off it,” he tweeted.
‘A legend of the sport’
Australian Rugby League Fee chair Peter V’landys stated Sattler could be remembered as one of many recreation’s hardest gamers.
“John was a legend of the sport,” Mr V’landys stated in a press release.
“The tales of his toughness had been fairly extraordinary, however they had been additionally at odds together with his nature off the sector. He was a real gentleman.
“These traits made him such a outstanding and celebrated chief. He captained his membership South Sydney in addition to his nation on three events.”
Sattler – who performed 197 matches for the Rabbitohs between 1963 and 1972 — will lengthy be remembered for his brave efficiency within the 1970 grand closing.
Rival Manly ahead John Bucknall punched Sattler and broke his jaw early within the match, however the Rabbitohs prop performed by the damage and helped safe a well-known 23-12 victory.
{A photograph} of Sattler together with his bloodied jaw on his teammates’ shoulders has turn out to be one in all rugby league’s most iconic photographs.
After being punched by Bucknall, Sattler’s response was to ask teammates to carry him up so it was not apparent he was harm.
“He tried to say one thing to me, however all I noticed was a basement of 4 tooth, and also you simply knew that he had damaged his jaw,” Rabbitohs teammate Bob McCarthy recalled in 2018.
“He was speaking too, so it should have been killing, and he was getting smacked after as properly.
“He was a troublesome man, that Johnny Sattler.”
A product of the Newcastle area, Sattler knocked again a number of contracts in Sydney earlier than agreeing to affix the Rabbitohs — the membership his father supported — in 1963.
He stayed there till he retired from the NSWRL in 1972 and continued to have a detailed bond with the Rabbitohs till his loss of life.
The Rabbitohs pays tribute to Sattler in Saturday night time’s NRL match towards the Sea Eagles at Stadium Australia.
ABC/AAP
