John Sattler

:"For the United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General, see John F. Sattler."Infobox rugby league biography
playername = John Sattler
fullname = John Sattler
nickname = Satts


caption =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1942|7|28
placeofbirth = Kurri Kurri
countryofbirth = Australia
height =
weight =
position = Rlp|PR
club1 = South Sydney
year1start = 1963
year1end = 1972
appearances1 = 197
tries1 = 12
goals1 = 0
fieldgoals1 = 0
points1 = 36
club2 = Wests (Brisbane)
year2start = 1973
year2end = ?
appearances2 =
tries2 =
goals2 =
fieldgoals2 =
points2 =
teamA = New South Wales
yearAstart = 1969
yearAend =
appearancesA = 4
triesA = 0
goalsA = 0
fieldgoalsA = 0
pointsA = 0
teamB = Queensland
yearBstart = 1973
yearBend =
appearancesB = 4
triesB = 0
goalsB = 0
fieldgoalsB = 0
pointsB = 0
teamC = Australia
yearCstart = 1967
yearCend = 1971
appearancesC = 4
triesC = 0
goalsC = 0
fieldgoalsC = 0
pointsC = 0
updated = 31 August 2006
source =
new = yes

John William Sattler (born 28 July, 1942 in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. His position of choice was at lock forward though he played his best football at Prop forward. He is also the father of former rugby league player Scott Sattler who won a premiership with Penrith in 2003.

Club career

One of the hardmen of rugby league 'Satts', as he is sometimes known, was an aggressive player on the field (some would say a mean and nasty bastard) but a softly spoken gentleman off the field, hence his other nickname "Gentleman John".

He began playing rugby league at the relatively late age of 16 for Kurri Kurri and represented Newcastle against the touring British side in 1962. The following year he joined South Sydney.

In 1967 he was appointed Souths captain and he inspired Souths to premiership wins on four occasions in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971 season. He also led his team to the Grand Final in 1969 where they lost to Balmain.

Representative career

Being injured during the 1970 Grand Final he was not selected as captain for the Australian touring side announced later that night for the tour of New Zealand. However he had previously been selected in Australia's tour of Britain and France in 1967 and in the Australian teams which toured New Zealand in 1969 and 1971, in which he was selected as captain. He only managed to play in four tests for Australia, captaining his nation in three out of those four games.

After 195 games with South Sydney, and four premiership victories, John Sattler signed for Brisbane Western Suburbs in 1973.

He captained the Queensland state side against New South Wales in 1973 before retiring from professional rugby league the following year.

Sattler was sent off fifteen times during his career and served a total of 30 weeks of suspensions. But he is remembered for his physical and mental toughness rather than his poor disciplinary record.

Post playing

In the mid 1980s John Sattler was involved in one of the unsuccessful bids to form a Brisbane-based team for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.

In February 2008, Sattler was named in the list of Australia's "100 Greatest Players" (1908-2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. [cite news|author=Peter Cassidy |publisher="Macquarie National News"|title=Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players |url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players |accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23] [cite web|publisher="NRL & ARL"|title=Centenary of Rugby League - The Players |url=http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true |accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23]

The Legendary 1970 Grand Final

In the premiership decider of 1970 South Sydney were up against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Having lost the previous Grand Final to the Balmain Tigers, Souths were desperate to win. Approximately ten minutes into the game Sattler collapsed after being punched by Manly forward John Bucknall. He suffered a double fracture to his jaw but pleaded to team mate Mike Cleary, "Hold me up so they don't know I'm hurt". He was helped up and continued to play in the game. At half time Souths were leading 12-6 when his fellow team mates learnt about his injury.

During the interval he refused treatment and insisted he continue playing. He also told the side, "the next bloke who tries to cut me out of the play is in trouble," to prevent his team mates trying to protect him from further injury. At the end of the game South Sydney had scored 3 tries to nil in a 23-12 victory. He later went to hospital to receive treatment but only after receiving the Giltinan Shield and making an acceptance speech.

External links

* [http://www.eraofthebiff.com/p29a.html John Sattler at eraofthebiff.com]
* [http://www.qrl.com.au/qrl_history/qld_rep_s.php Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au]

Footnotes