Rugby league, South Sydney legend John Sattler dies aged 80
Scott Sattler has revealed some treasured and heartfelt memories about his legendary father John, while opening up about the final moments of the rugby league great’s life. ALL THE TRIBUTES
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Scott Sattler has paid tribute to his legendary father John and detailed the Rabbitohs legend’s love for South Sydney until his final breaths.
Sattler passed away on Monday aged 80 after a long battle with dementia and will be forever enshrined as one of rugby league’s greatest captains, skippering Souths to four premierships between 1967-71 and famously playing 77 minutes of the 1970 grand final with a broken jaw.
Speaking with News Corp, Scott Sattler spoke of his father’s enduring passion for the Rabbitohs as he opened up about the final moments of ‘Gentleman John’s’ remarkable life.
Sattler, himself an NRL legend who won a premiership with Penrith in 2003, always believed his “indestructible” old man would live forever. At least, “until his 90s”.
Then, on Monday morning, Scott received a phone call urging him to get to an aged-care facility on the Gold Coast, where John has been staying in recent years as his dementia deteriorated.
“I just feel numb, it’s so hard,” Sattler said.
“At least Dad is up there now with his great mates ‘Lurch’ (John) O’Neill and ‘Ned’ (Noel) Kelly (who passed away in 1999 and 2020 respectively).
“Bob McCarthy (Souths legend) was the first person I called because he was Dad’s best mate.
“With his dementia, Dad had stopped eating and drinking.
“I saw him last week and he was very vague. I thought he would be one of those guys who would keep battling away until his 90s.
“(On Sunday) he was laying in bed and all of a sudden he put his head back and went into deep breathing.
“They gave him some morphine (on Monday morning), then I got the call from the aged-care facility saying, ‘Scott, you better get here’.
“I rushed in and he was just breathing really deeply, like he was taking his last breaths.
“He couldn’t talk. He was just taking deep short breaths.
“I was holding his hand for about seven or eight minutes and then he took one more breath and suddenly I felt his pulse was no more.
“Dad was gone.”
A tough-as-nails forward, Sattler played 197 games for the Rabbitohs between 1963-72. He represented Australia in 16 matches, including four official Tests, but his most enduring moment was captaining Souths to premiership glory despite having his jaw smashed in the early minutes of the 1970 grand final.
Newspaper headlines at the time hailed the ‘Broken Jaw Hero’ who had turned South Sydney into rugby league’s new force after St George’s decade of dominance between 1956-66.
Ironically, legendary Souths coach Clive ‘The Little Master’ Churchill had given Sattler the captaincy because, in John’s own words, he was viewed as a “lunatic” who risked being rubbed out of the game due to a number of suspensions for belting opponents.
In his first season as captain, Sattler led Souths to the premiership in 1967.
“He was my Dad, but it’s funny, I always looked up to him as if I was a fan,” Scott said.
“As I sat with him in those last few moments, my mind kept floating back to running around in the lounge-room with his famous jerseys on and pretending I was Bob McCarthy.
“That pissed him off (laughs).
“As we got older, we just became really good mates. I just always saw him as indestructible. It’s hard because I didn’t want Dad to suffer anymore. He was in discomfort and humiliated with the way he looked and felt.
“It was hard in the end. He wasn’t able to use his phone and some days he knew who you were and other days he didn’t recognise you, but just bluffed his way through.
“I never saw Dad play live, most people remember the 1970 grand final because of the broken jaw, but my favourite memory is the 1967 grand final win (over Canterbury).
“Dad was captain and it was Clive Churchill’s first year as coach.
“Dad was 25 years of age and it was his first year as captain and they went on to win the comp.
“There was an image of him being chaired off and Clive was always cuddling Dad. It was like a father-son relationship. I have some VHS tapes I watched and Clive always had a soft spot for Dad, he saw something in Dad that no-one else saw.”
The Rabbitohs will officially pay homage to Sattler in this Saturday night’s home clash at Homebush — ironically against the Manly club against whom he broke his jaw in the 1970 decider.
The last time John Sattler visited Accor Stadium, it was the 2014 grand final and Michael Maguire’s Bunnies had beaten Canterbury.
It was South Sydney’s first title in 43 years ... since Sattler led the red-and-green to the premiership in 1971.
The Maguire-Sattler link was established and, in John’s mind, will never be broken.
“Dad loved ‘Madge’ (Maguire) and the Burgess boys (Sam, George and Tom),” Scott said.
“Right till the end, almost every time I went in to visit Dad, he would say how’s Madge and the Burgess boys?
“Madge struck a chord with Dad because he was the coach who embraced the Souths Juniors again. There was this divide between Souths Seniors and Juniors that really upset Dad and Dad loved how Madge educated the players on the history of the club and its great players.
“Dad forgot a lot of things later in life, but he never forgot those glory years, his teammates, and Madge and the Burgess boys left a lasting impression on him.
“He loved how the Burgess boys played, they were tough ... a real throwback to his era.”
‘Our leader, our hero’: Albo, ‘Tugga’ lead tributes to icon Sattler
Australian Prime Minister and lifelong South Sydney fan, Anthony Albanese, has led heartfelt tributes for John Sattler, one of the greatest and toughest players in rugby league history.
Sattler died on Monday, aged 80.
“John Sattler was a legendary player who was tough on the field but a true gentleman off it,” Albanese told The Daily Telegraph.
“He was an inspirational leader who, decades after his retirement, took his rightful place at the front of the marches for South Sydney’s reinstatement (in 2000).
“Satts was loved by all who follow the Rabbitohs and respected by all who met him or had the privilege of watching him play.”
Sattler had been living in a Gold Coast retirement village and battling dementia in recent years as his health deteriorated. He suffered a stroke in 2018 and received his dementia diagnosis two years later.
Born in Maitland in 1942, Sattler played 195 games for Souths between 1963 and 1972, along with four Tests for Australia, including captaining the Kangaroos in a match against Great Britain in 1970.
He led Souths to four premierships between 1967 and 1971.
However, it was the 1970 grand final against Manly for which he will always be remembered. Sattler played 77 minutes with a broken jaw at the SCG after Sea Eagles forward John ‘Sleepy’ Bucknall punched him.
Displaying unbelievable courage, Sattler played on and inspired Souths to a 23-12 victory. His name became synonymous with old-school toughness.
BUZZ: BRUTAL REALITY BEHIND RUGBY LEAGUE’S TOUGHEST MAN
Souths will honour Sattler at Saturday’s game against Manly at Accor Stadium, the venue of their most recent premiership win in 2014, where he was on hand to celebrate the victory.
A member of rugby league’s Hall of Fame, he was known as ‘Satts’ and ‘Gentleman John’ – a reference to his charming personality.
Sattler – Souths’ player number 515 - also represented NSW four times in 1969 and Queensland on three occasions in 1973.
In one of his final interviews in 2021, Sattler told The Daily Telegraph about his infamous jaw break.
“People said it was broken but it was actually smashed in three places. The breaks were so clean they went straight through my gum but I didn’t lose any teeth. He gave me a fair whacking,” said Sattler.
“At halftime, we went into the sheds, and one of the players, it might have been ‘Lurch’ (John O’Neill), had a go at me for missing a tackle. He didn’t know my jaw was smashed.
“He said: ‘You’re missing f … ing tackles, cut it out’. I didn’t say anything but he was really upset about it later on when ‘Macca’ (Bob McCarthy) walked over and told him about my jaw. Lurch said: ‘f…!’.
“I sit and look back now and think: ‘I didn’t let my teammates down by coming off’.
“I was angry that he (Bucknall) was such a weak bastard. He ended up going off the field in that grand final. I remember Freddie Jones going off at him when Bucknall left the field.”
Not wanting Manly to know his jaw was smashed, Sattler pleaded on-field with teammate Mike Cleary: “Hold me up so they don’t know I’m hurt”.
TRIBUTES TO JOHN SATTLER
CRAIG ‘TUGGA’ COLEMAN
“When I talk about John Sattler I get goosebumps,” Coleman told News Corp. “He was our leader, our hero. He’s a true south Sydney legend, and it’s a very, very sad day.
“I was lucky to grow up in the golden era, and there will never be another John Sattler. “Growing up in Redfern, he was a hero to all of us. We never had much back in those days and when we won, we were kings. That was Satts leading the way.
“Not only was he a legendary footballer, he was a legendary man.
“He’s in folklore for what he did for South Sydney, but off the field, you wouldn’t meet a nicer person as well.
“All I ever wanted to do was play for South Sydney. That’s being inspired by all those champions and living across the road from Redfern Oval.
“When he was well he’d come to the South Sydney reunions and he’d sing the Souths victory song - and no one could sing it better than him.
“Just so sad to lose a man like him. The whole of Redfern will be in mourning.”
R.I.P John Sattler .
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) March 20, 2023
South Sydney legend.
Whitlams Black Stump with Pub Choir - The Day John Sattler Broke His Jaw... https://t.co/zyApYH2ex2 via @YouTube
John Sattler was a legendary player who was tough on the field but a true gentleman off it.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) March 20, 2023
He was an inspirational leader who, decades after his retirement, took his rightful place at the front of the marches for South Sydney’s reinstatement. pic.twitter.com/tnCBJykE6x
BOB McCARTHY
“It’s a very sad day,” said former teammate and friend Bobby McCarthy. “All front-rowers were tough in those days - but ‘Satts’ was that and more.
“He played the grand final with a broken jaw. He once stayed on the field with a dislocated elbow. Nothing could stop him on a rugby league field.”
SOUTHS CHAIRMAN NICK PAPPAS
“If anyone is to epitomise the true spirit of the South Sydney Rabbitohs it is John Sattler,” Pappas said.
“He bled red and green. He would do anything for his teammates. He never took a backwards step and always led from the front.
“He was loved by everyone connected with the Rabbitohs, whether it be one of his former teammates who he led to premiership glory, or the man in the street who loved South Sydney just as much as he did.
“He was tough and brave but fair, uncompromising on the field and empathetic off it, and he truly epitomised everything that we want the Rabbitohs to be.
“His favourite saying was ‘I play to win – everyone knows that.’ There is nothing more ‘South Sydney Rabbitohs’ than that.”
PETER V’LANDYS
“John was a legend of the game. The tales of his toughness were quite extraordinary, but they were also at odds with his nature off the field. He was a true gentleman,” Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said.
“Those traits made him such a remarkable and celebrated leader. He captained his club South Sydney as well as his country on three occasions.”
WAYNE BENNETT
“The modern day front rower is pretty tough still but it was a different game then and John epitomised the game at the time with his toughness, playing with a broken jaw,” said Bennett on Triple M’s The Rush Hour. “But I think there are more times than not he was probably knocked out while he was still playing too because that’s what they did to each other in that era.
“They weren’t short to throw a stiff arm or a punch, John always held his own and stood up for his teammates. I’m sure they’ll be thinking of him today very fondly.
“My condolences to his family and South Sydney supporters today, they will be very sad. He was a legend at South Sydney, a great player for them... I’m very sad today as well.
“He played in that area when the game started to change to give us the game we have got today.”
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