NRL news: Rugby league legend Arthur Summons dead at 84
The rugby league world is in mourning over the death of a legend of the game, with Arthur Summons – forever immortalised on the competition trophy – passing away aged 84.
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Arthur Summons is forever remembered by a moment of heartbreak.
Which is a rarity in sport.
Not only to be lauded for loss, but bronzed by it.
Celebrated.
Usually, losing a third straight grand final is nothing good.
But Summons, he not only made it a thing of beauty — but immortality.
Which matters.
And why for a tick over 50 years, this little Western Suburbs playmaker has existed as something of a living, breathing testament to all those greatest traits comprising The Greatest Game of All.
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Grit, compassion, humility, grace – yep, Summons has come to embody all of it.
With what he brought to the game as a man, incredibly, outlasting even the athletic feats of a dual international who played 10 Tests for the Wallabies, nine with the Kangaroos, and even captain-coached the 1963-64 Australian Test side – arguably our greatest ever.
But then on Saturday evening, well, the light went out.
Summons, aged 84, finally calling time on a long battle with cancer.
Which around the country, had sports fans once more focusing on that bronzed image atop the NRL premiership trophy.
Gladiators, they call it.
A blink-and-you-miss-it moment which, taken after the 1963 grand final, shows Summons embracing that hulking St George rival Norm Provan after what had just become his third straight grand final loss.
“And Arthur, he was heartbroken,” says Norm Tasker, the Sydney sports scribe who in 2013 released a superb book, Gladiators, to celebrate the moment’s 50th anniversary.
“Absolutely heartbroken.
“Yet in a mark of the man, he still had the class to not only approach Provan and throw an arm around him, but display a warmth which is clearly evident in that photograph.”
Which again, matters.
“Because Arthur hated losing,” says Johnny King, the old Dragons winger who in ‘63 scored a runaway try late to seal the game. “When he went onto that field, it was do or die. He gave everything.
“I remember even when he coached my Australian side a few years later, he expected the same from his players too.”
Tasker agrees, adding: “Arthur told me losing one grand final was bad, losing two was terrible and then of the third he said ‘I just couldn’t handle that at all’.”
Yet good luck finding a man who has ever handled such heartache better.
“Arthur epitomised everything rugby league stands for,” ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said on Sunday. “He was a talented player, a fierce competitor and extremely popular with everyone.
“Arthur was famously small in stature, but he was still an absolute giant of our game.”
Tributes flowed on Sunday from right across rugby league, with Parramatta great Peter Sterling calling Summons a “class act” while NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler described the old Magpie as “why rugby league is so great”.
Tasker agrees, continuing of the Gladiators photograph: “That image signifies many things
“Not only big man versus small man, or the humility of Provan as a winner, but the genuine warmth displayed by Arthur Summons.
“It captures all that rugby league is supposed to be about.”
Albeit with a caveat.
“Oh, it didn’t stop Arthur complaining about referee Darcy Lawler, who officiated that day, every time the pair met for the next 50 years,” Tasker says.
“In fact, I’m not sure there was ever a time the pair met up that Arthur didn’t bring up Lawler.”
A private service will be held for Summons in Wagga later this week.