Rabbitohs great John Sattler undergoes DNA testing to determine if jersey is his

BLOOD immortalised his 1970 grand final jersey - now John Sattler is hoping that same claret will identify it.

Sattler

BLOOD immortalised his 1970 grand final jersey - now John Sattler is hoping that same claret will identify it.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Rabbitohs great Sattler has undergone DNA testing on the Gold Coast to determine if an old jumper being auctioned on eBay for $30,000 is his.

The unique move comes after Fairfield detectives late on Monday night obtained said jersey from the Sydney residence of a man known only as Peter.

Detective Sergeant Mark Stone confirmed the seizure and said police would now conduct a series of forensic tests on the jumper. They have also forwarded photos to Sattler for verification.

Sattler and his son Scott yesterday attended Tweed Heads police station, with the former prop providing a mouth swab that will be sent to Sydney for further analysis.

It's understood there are fears the item being sold online is fake, while the original - stolen from a Sydney memorabilia warehouse back in 2000 - is still hidden away in someone's sock drawer.

A former Sydney first-grader is among the suspects.

Should the auction item prove to be unauthentic, it could end a deception dating back some 35 years to when Redfern Oval gatekeeper Dieter Weyrauch is said to have bought the jersey at auction for $100.

Weyrauch's son Hardy, who now lives in South Australia, says he distinctly remembers the day his late father bought the jersey at Redfern Oval because "100 bucks ... that was a lot of money back then".

Hardy says the jersey hung above the family bar for years.

It's alleged that in 2000 the family sold the jersey for $10,000 to Michael Fahey of Sports Memorabilia Australia - who later resold it to the current owner.

Sydney solicitor Peter Garrett, acting on behalf of the seller, told The Daily Telegraph last night his client confirms this version of events and has letters and statutory declarations signed by Sattler declaring the authenticity.

Sattler denies this.

His family has also provided a photograph that clearly shows Jack Sattler - grandson of the Kangaroos great - holding up the jersey shortly before his father Scott handed it over to a Sydney memorabilia company, Blazed In Glory, for framing.

It hasn't been seen since.

"Jack was three years old when I took that picture back in 2000," Scott Sattler says. "It was shortly after Dad had sent it down from the Gold Coast to be framed."

There is, of course, a possibility that back in 1973, a South Sydney official grabbed a random No. 13 jersey, ripped the Rabbitohs logo in two and offered it as the genuine article.

"There is a chance we were dudded, yes," Hardy concedes. "Which would be a terrible shame because that jersey was such a big part of my life, such an immense source of pride growing up."

Should the eBay jersey be a fake, investigations will shift back to the alleged warehouse robbery of former Blazed In Glory owner Michael Halpin.

Halpin has hired his own private investigator to help track down the jersey.