Sam Backo (born 1 January 1961) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played as a in the 1980s and 1990s. Named as one of the greatest Aboriginal players of the 20th century, he represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and played club football in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

and

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

, primarily as a prop forward. Backo was the first Australian forward to score tries in all three Tests of an

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

, and following his retirement was named in an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

team of the century.

Early career

Former chairwoman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Evelyn Scott gave birth to Sam Backo on . Originally from North Queensland township, Ingham he was a forward for

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

in the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...

's Northern Division before moving south to

Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...

in the

New South Wales Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugb ...

Group 8 Group 8 may refer to: * Group 8 element, a series of elements in the Periodic Table * Group 8 Rugby League, a rugby league competition * Group 8 (Sweden), a feminist movement in Sweden * Group VIII, former nomenclature for the noble gas The n ...

competition in 1981. The following year he returned to his home state to play for

Yeppoon Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the ...

in the Central Division competition.

BRL and Canberra

After playing in the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

for

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

, in 1983 Backo was given his first opportunity in Sydney's

NSWRFL premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

with the

in their second season. He made his début in March and went on to play a handful of games that season. From 1984, Backo was a regular member of the starting line-up at Canberra and in 1987 appeared in his, and the club's, first grand final, which was lost to the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. While in his final season at Canberra, Backo was first selected to play

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

football for the Queensland Maroons in the 1988 series. He played in all three games at prop forward, scoring one try in game II and two tries in game III. Queensland won the series in a three-game whitewash. In games II and III Backo won consecutive man-of-the-match awards, one of only a handful of players to do so. During the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...

Backo was selected to make his

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

debut at prop forward in the first of the Ashes series against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in Sydney, scoring a try. He went on to become the first Australian forward to score tries in all three Tests of an

, and at the time he was only the second Australian player to do so after legendary winger

Ken Irvine Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990), also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a ...

. At the end of the

1988 NSWRL season The 1988 NSWRL season was the 81st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and saw the first expansion of the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership outside the borders of New South Wales, and another expansion outside of Syd ...

Backo was the

Dally M The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the b ...

front rower of the year. A late season injury playing for Canberra saw him miss selection in Australia's World Cup Final winning team.

RFL and Brisbane

Moving to England, Backo played in the

1988–89 Rugby Football League season The 1988–89 Rugby Football League season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1988 until May, 1989 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Chall ...

for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. on Sunday 16 October 1988 he played as an interchange, replacing prop Hugh Waddell, in

' 33-12 victory over

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in the 1988 Yorkshire Cup Final at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

. Backo's final two seasons of top-level football, 1989 and 1990, were spent in Queensland, with the

. He was selected to go on the 1989 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand. Backo also played in a further four games for the Maroons – games II and III of the

1989 State of Origin series The 1989 State of Origin series was the eighth time the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was Queensland's second consecutive Origin clean-sweep and ...

, and games II and III of the 1990 series – despite his knee problems, which limited his participation with his club to only five appearances during 1990 and eventually forced his retirement at the end of the season. Although selected for the 1990 Australia team to play

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the NSW country town of

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

, he was forced to withdraw because of his ongoing knee injury. In total, Backo played in six Tests and scored three tries. In 1991, Backo made a short-lived return to football to play for

Logan Scorpions The Logan Scorpions were an Australian rugby league football club from the suburb of Slacks Creek in Logan City, Queensland. Due to financial difficulties, the club ceased operation at the end of the 2002 Queensland Cup season, and merged wit ...

in the Brisbane competition.

Post playing

Backo was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000 for his contribution to Australia's standing in rugby league. The ''Indigenous Team of the Century'' was announced in 2001 with Backo included in the starting line-up which also included

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

Gorden Tallis Gorden James Tallis (born 27 July 1973), also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin and ...

and John Ferguson. In 2004, Backo was named in the Canberra Raiders' ''All Indigenous'' team.

Family

Actress

Elaine Crombie Elaine Crombie is an Aboriginal Australian actress, known for her work on stage and television. She is also a singer, songwriter, comedian, writer and producer. Early life and education Crombie is a Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman from ...

is Backo's daughter. His son, Daniel Backo, was signed to the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

but didn't make an NRL appearance.

References

* * *

Footnotes

External links

Sam Backo at yesterdayshero.com.auSam Backo at nrlstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Backo, Sam 1961 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Canberra Raiders players Fortitude Valley Diehards players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players People from North Queensland Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league players from Queensland Rugby league props