John Sattler
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John William Sattler (born 28 July 1942) is a former professional and national representative
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 in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a rugged Prop forward who captained his club, South Sydney to four premiership victories from 1967 to 1971 and who played four Tests for
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 ...
– three as national captain. Known as "Satts", he was one of the hardmen of Australian rugby league and was regarded an aggressive on field player but a softly spoken gentleman off the field - hence his other nickname "Gentleman John". His son
Scott Sattler Scott Sattler (born 13 December 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played during the 1990s and 2000s, later becoming the Football Manager of the Gold Coast Titans. A Queensland State of Origin representative ...
was also a 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 and won a national premiership with the
Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...
in 2003.


Club career

John Sattler was born in 1942 at Telarah New South Wales, and moved to Kurri Kurri with his family when he was 12 years old. His paternal grandfather, Peter Sattler, was a German immigrant who arrived in Maitland NSW late 1890s aged 6. He attended Marist Brothers High School in Maitland,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Sattler began playing rugby league at the late age of 16 for
Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,044. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, ...
and represented
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
against the touring British side in 1962. The following year he moved to Sydney and joined the
South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...
. In 1967 he was appointed Souths captain and he inspired Souths to premiership wins in the four seasons of
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
,
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...
,
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
and
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
. He also led his team to the Grand Final in 1969 where they lost to Balmain. His could play at lock forward but played his best football and enjoyed his premiership & national representative success as a Prop forward. After 195 games with South Sydney, and four premiership victories, John Sattler signed for Brisbane Western Suburbs in 1973.


The 1970 Grand Final

In the 1970 grand final, Sattler played with a broken jaw to help Souths to victory over Manly. In the premiership decider of
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
South Sydney were up against 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 ...
at the
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...
on 19 September. Having lost the previous Grand Final to the
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...
, 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 Mike Cleary (May 19, 1858 in County Laois, Ireland – September 5, 1893 in Belfast, New York) was an Irish-American boxer. Cleary was born in County Laois, and emigrated to the United States. He was known as a quick and "scrappy" fight ...
, "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 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.


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 World Cup in England. 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. He captained the Queensland state side against
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
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.


Post playing

In the mid-1980s John Sattler was involved in one of the unsuccessful bids to form a
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
-based team for 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 ...
. In February 2008, Sattler was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
and
ARL ARL may refer to: Military * US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship * Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK * United States Army Research Laboratory * ARL 44, a WWII French tank Organizations * Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives compan ...
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. In 2010 he was named as captain of Kurri Rugby League Club's team of the century.


Legacy

Australian country artist
Perry Keyes Perry Keyes (born 1966) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Keyes is based in Waterloo, Sydney and grew up in nearby Redfern. Former singer-songwriter with Sydney band the Stolen Holdens, Keyes' output is best described as heartland rock in t ...
released a song "The Day John Sattler Broke his Jaw" in 2007. Music reviewer Lauren Katulka said the song deserved to be an Australian classic: "It was so good that I wondered why we don’t all know it, the way we know “
Khe Sanh Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà. During the Vietnam War, the Khe Sanh Combat Base was located to the north of the city. The Battle of Khe San ...
” and “
The Horses "The Horses" is a song written by Rickie Lee Jones and Walter Becker. It was originally performed by Jones on her 1989 album, ''Flying Cowboys''. While not released as a single, the original version did appear in the 1996 film ''Jerry Maguire'' a ...
”. Indie band
The Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the l ...
in its iteration with the
Black Stump Band Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
covered it in 2022. Frontman
Tim Freedman Timothy James Freedman (25 November 1964) is an Australian musician, best known as the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993. Note: n-lineversion was expanded from the 2002 edition. The song ...
described it as "the greatest song ever written about rugby league". The video clip features footage of the 1970 grand final.


Footnotes


External links


John Sattler at eraofthebiff.comQueensland representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sattler, John 1942 births Living people People from the Hunter Region Australian rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Kurri Kurri Bulldogs players Australia national rugby league team players Wests Panthers players Australia national rugby league team captains Queensland rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains Newcastle rugby league team players Rugby league props Rugby league players from Kurri Kurri