John Sattler
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Sattler | |
| Date of birth | 1944 | |
| Place of birth | Kurri Kurri, Australia | |
| Nickname | Satts | |
| Position | Front Row | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1963-72 | Souths | 197 (36) |
| Representative teams** | ||
| 1969 1973 1967-71 |
New South Wales Queensland Australia |
4 (0) 3 (0) 4 (0) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
- For the United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General, see John F. Sattler.
John William Sattler (born 1944 in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia) was an Australian rugby league player. His position of choice was at Lock forward though he played his best football at Prop forward.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
He is the father of former rugby league player Scott Sattler who won a premiership with Penrith in 2003.
[edit] 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.
