Former Bulldogs heart-throb Sandy Campbell living on the streets with a shopping trolley and sleeping on the beach

Sandy Campbell once graced covers of magazines, scored tries for fun as part of Canterbury’s ‘Entertainers’ and was adored by fans. Now he’s battling cancer and living on the streets.

Former Canterbury winger Sandy Campbell.

With face tattoos and missing front teeth, he moves slowly around the streets of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads with his shopping trolley and chemotherapy infusion pump.

He wears the same clothes, has no money, no support and sleeps on the beach.

And life for Sandy Campbell has now become utterly cruel – he has throat cancer.

Once a rugby league glamour player with Canterbury, Souths and Easts, Campbell is now homeless.

The man nicknamed The Sandman was a 1980s dancing footy heart-throb. Tall, strong and with curly black hair, Campbell thrilled fans in his 93-game career between 1986 and 1991.

He once famously adorned the front cover of Rugby League Week where he imitated Michael Jackson under a headline which roared: “BAD – The dancin’ Bulldog. The remarkable talents of a Bulldogs flyer.”

Former rugby league player Sandy Campbell is now homeless in Coolangatta.

Now he has nothing – except a warm smile for those kind enough to stop for a quick chat as he pushes a Coles shopping trolley full of his modest possessions.

He is often seen at a Tweed Heads St Vincent de Paul homeless shelter, Fred’s Place, where he seeks out a hot meal.

Campbell, 56, was spotted this week in denim overalls with heavily tattooed legs. His beard is grey and a green tarpaulin covers his belongings from the rain.

He visits Tweed Heads Hospital for a six-hour chemotherapy treatment before leaving with a tube which he self-administers. The modern medical device looks out of place in his trolley full of used plastic bags.

“He’s got nothing and he has just been diagnosed with throat cancer,” said Campbell’s good mate, Darren Smith. “He just started treatment but has got nowhere to stay, nowhere to go and no help.

Former Canterbury Bulldogs, Eastern Suburbs Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Sandy Campbell. Picture: News Corp

“At the moment, he is sleeping on the beach underneath one of the surf clubs at Coolangatta. I don’t even know how to help him. What do I do? I was going to start a Go Fund Me page to try and help him out.

“No one can give him accommodation and he’s got no money. There’s no housing anywhere, he’s got cancer and he’s walking around with chemo treatment being pumped into him while pushing his trolley.

“He has a pump which is attached to him 24-7 as part of his treatment. I have helped him out many times. He slept in my office for many years because he had nowhere to go, but I sold that business and don’t have that office anymore.

“It makes it even harder because he is sick. To have a bed to sleep in would be everything for him. It’s very sad.

“I saw him the other day and thought: ‘What the f …, are you serious?’ Look at him, he’s connected up to this (medical) shit and pushing his trolley – how do you help?”

Papua New Guinea-born, Campbell has “lounge hopped” for the past 20 years. He is estranged from his partner and twin girls.

Sandy Campbell on the cover of Rugby League Week in 1988.

Sandy Campbell in 2016.

Friends say Campbell struggled emotionally and financially after his footy career, working as a security guard in night clubs and tattoo artist.

Campbell shifted to Fremantle several years ago.

“Sandy used to work for me on the door and we became close friends,” said another friend, Nunzio La Bianca.

“He was constantly lounge-hopping. He’s been doing it, realistically, since he left footy. There was no regular money coming in.

“‘Sandman’ stayed at my house off and on for years and at Darren’s house off and on. He has found himself on the streets. If you see him, can you help him out financially or a place to live? He’s a legend of the game.

“We don’t know where to find him – he’s homeless. He just got on the wrong side of life. He was a monster when he was playing – he was a good lookin’ boy.”

Smith added: “Being a young player, and given all that money, how the hell was he to know what to do with it? He’s always in good spirits and always has a smile on his face. Nothing ever seems wrong. He doesn’t let it in.”

A former Australian Schoolboy champion, Campbell made his first grade debut for the Bulldogs against Cronulla in 1986. He scored 17 career tries and contested two finals games for Canterbury in 1986.