Sattler is a 4 time South Sydney premiership winning captain in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971. He also played in 2 other premiership deciders with South Sydney in 1965 and 1969. Sattler is a 1 time South Sydney Australiasian Championship winning capatin in 1968. He is also a 3 time Pre-Season Cup winner with South Sydney in 1966, 1969 and 1972. Captaining the team in 1969 and 1972.
Sattler a Newcastle junior from Kurri Kurri. His great grandparent was of German descent. He had represented Newcastle in 1962 against the touring Great Britain team before joining South Sydney in 1963. He made his first grade club cup debut with South Sydney in 1963 Round 1 Pre-Season Cup clash against Parramatta at Redfern Oval. The following week, the fiery prop was sent off. He made his first grade premiership debut with South Sydney in the 1963 Round 1 clash against Canterbury-Bankstown at Belmore Oval.
Sattler was a fiery tough uncomprising forward, who was at home at prop or in the second row. He would dish out as good as he got. He was a hot headed youngster with a temper on field. But one of the kindest people off the field. Sattler is rememberd most for the day he broke his jaw in the 1968 Grand Final. In the 5th minute of the match Sattler was grabbed him from behind and punched by John Bucknall, with a force so great that it broke his jaw in three places. Sattler would go on to play the rest of the game with the broken jaw. He etched his name and image into South Sydney and rugby league folklore as he led the team to victory.
Sattler played 10 seasons with South Sydney between 1963 and 1972. He played 252 first grade club games for South Sydney, including 195 first grade premiership games and 54 first grade cup games. He played his whole senior grade career for South Sydney in first grade never playing a lower grade match. Sattler held then record for the most first grade premiership games for South Sydney taking over from Jack Rayner in 1972 till it was broken in 1975.
To curb Sattler's firey play, coach Clive Churchill handed Sattler the club captaincy in 1967. It proved a stroke of genious, as Sattler became one of the greatest leaders ever for South Sydney. Sattler made his first grade cup captaincy debut in the 1967 Round 1 Pre-Season Cup against Balmain at Redfern Oval, before making his first grade premiership captaincy debut in the 1967 Round 1 clash against Western Suburbs at Pratten Park. He would lead South Sydney on 164 occassions in first grade, which included 129 first grade premiership matchs. And led South Sydney to 4 premiership victories.
At representative level, made his representative debut while at South Sydney on the 1967-68 Kanagaroo tour match against Yorkshire at Wakefield, and was promptly sent off during the match. He didn't play a international for the rest of the tour being part of the Emu squad. He had to wait till 1969 to restart his representative career, first capatining the Sydney City I team against NSW Country I at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He followed this up with his state debut captaining New South Wales against Queensland in the 1st 1969 clash at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. He was given captaincy of of the 1969 Kangaroo tour squad to New Zealand and made his international debut as captain against New Zealand in the 1969 1st Test at Carlaw Park. Sattler played 22 representative matches while at South Sydney, which included 4 matches for New South Wales and 4 internationals for Australia. He played his final representative match while with South Sydney in the 1972 Sydney City II clash against NSW Country II at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Sattler played his last senior grade and first grade club and premiership match in the 1972 minr Semi-Final clash against St George at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Sattler then moved to Brisbane.
In 1963 was awarded the Find of the Season by the Sunday Telegraph. He followed this up winning the South Sydney club first grade Best and Fairest award in 1966, and in 1971 was voted South Sydney Clubman of the year. He was awarded South Sydney DRLFC Life Membership in 1972. In 2004 he was selected as a member of the South Sydney Dream Team. In 2007 he was selected in the ARL's Greatest 100 players and a member of the NRL Team of the 1970s. He was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame in 2018 and is also a member of the Randwick and Cessnock Hall of Fame. At Kurri Sports Ground they erected the John Sattler Stand in his honour. A player with a great voice, you can hear him sing "All around the Bar" after a home win in the mid 2020s.
Sattler is a South Sydney rugby league legend.
Player Relatives
Son - Sattler, Scott (Gold Coast)
(Eastern Suburbs)
(South Queensland)
(Penrith)
(Wests-Tigers)
Representative Qualification
NSW Country
Date of Birth
Telarah - 26th July 1942 (Died - 2023)
Previous Clubs First Grade
(FG) Premiership : (FG) Cup
M T G FG Pt : M T G FG Pt
Kurri Kurri (1961-62) 35 6 - - 18 : 3 - - - -
Previous Rep Honours M T G FG Pt
Newcastle (1962) 1 - - - -
Playing Career at South Sydney (1963-72)
South Sydney First Grade Debut
1963 Feb 28 Pre01 Redf v Parramatta (20y 217d)
1963 Apr 6 Rd01 Belm v Canterbury-Bankstown (Premiership - 20y 254d)
First Grade
Premiership : ANZ & Aust Championship : State / Ampol Cup : Pre-Season Comp : Tour
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
1963 16 16 - 2 - - 6 : : - - - - - - - : 2 2 - - - - -
1964 16 16 - - - - - : : 1 1 - - - - - : 4 4 - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1965 18 18 - 1 - - 3 : : 2 2 - - - - - : 6 6 - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1966 16 16 - - - - - : : : 6 6 - - - - - : 1 1 - - - - -
1967 22 22 - 1 - - 3 : : : 6 6 - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1968 25 25 - - - - - : 2 2 - - - - - : : 4 4 - - - - - : 2 2 - - - - -
1969 20 20 - - - - - : : : 6 6 - - - - -
1970 22 22 - 2 - - 6 : : : 6 6 - 1 - - 3 : - - - - - - -
1971 18 18 - 2 - - 6 : : : 4 4 - 1 - - 3
1972 22 22 - 4 - - 12 : : : 5 5 - 2 - - 6
TOTAL 195 195 - 12 - - 36 : 2 2 - - - - - : 3 3 - - - - - : 49 49 - 4 - - 12 : 3 3 - - - - -
SS Cup 54 54 - 4 - - 12
SS FG 252 252 - 16 - - 48
Lower Grades
Reserve Grade : Third Grade :
Year M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts :
1963 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1964 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1965 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1966 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1967 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1968 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1969 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1970 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1971 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
1972 - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
TOTAL - - - - - - - : - - - - - - -
South Sydney Senior(FG/RG/3G) Grade Career
Premiership : Cup : All Matches
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
CAREER 195 195 - 12 - - 36 : 54 54 - 4 - - 12 : 252 252 - 16 - - 48
Captaincy Record at South Sydney
South Sydney First Grade Captaincy Debut
1967 Pre01 Redf v Balmain
1967 Rd01 Prat v Western Suburbs (Premiership)
First Grade
Year Premiership( W- D-L %) : Other( W- D-L %)
1967 22( 17- 0-3 77%) : 6( 4- 0-2 67%)
1968 25( 18- 0-7 73%) : 8( 6- 0-2 75%)
1969 20( 20- 0-4 80%) : 6( 6- 0-0 100%)
1970 22( 17- 1-4 77%) : 6( 5- 0-1 83%)
1971 18( 14- 0-4 78%) : 4( 2- 0-2 50%)
1972 22( 14- 0-8 64%) : 5( 4- 0-1 80%)
TOTAL 129( 96- 1-30 74%) : 35( 27- 0-8 77%)
SS FG 164(123- 1-38 75%)
Suspension Record at South Sydney
Year Grade v Wk CHARGE 1963 Pre02 FG Manly 2 Fighting 1964 Rd01 FG Easts 2 Deliberately Kicking 1964 Rd12 FG St George - Stiff Arm Tackle (Exhonerated) 1965 Rd04 FG Parramatta 1 Deliberate Late Tackle 1965 Rd11 FG Manly 2 Deliberate Tripping 1966 Rd10 FG Parramatta 2 Stiff Arm Tackle 1967 Rd11 FG Balmain 2 Punching 1967 Rd17 FG Manly - Using his knees 1967 Australia Yorkshire - Punching 1968 Rd15 FG Wests - Misconduct Spitting 1969 NSW Queensland - Punching 1970 Rd17 FG Balmain 2 Stomping on opponents arm 1971 Rd06 FG Canterbury 4 Kicking opponent in face 1972 Rd17 FG Norths 1 Fighting
Player Awards
Year Award 1963 - Sunday Telegraph Find of the Season 1966 - South Sydney DRLFC Best and Fairest (First Grade) 1966 - Souths Magazine Best Player Award 1971 - South Sydney DRLFC Clubman of the Year 1972 - South Sydney DRLFC Life Membership 1998 - Randwick Council Hall of Fame 2003 - John Sattler Award (South Sydney rookie of the year) named in his honour 2004 - South Sydney Dream Team 2005 - NRL Team of the 1970s 2007 - ARL 100 Greatest Players 2008 - John Sattler Cup (South Sydney v Gold Coast U20s perpetual trophy) named in his honour 2012 - John Sattler Stand (Kurri Sportsground) named in his honour 2013 - Cessnock Council Hall of Fame 2018 - NRL Hall of Fame 2019 - Kelly-Sattler Cup (South Sydney v Western Suburbs perpetual trophy) named in his honour
Representative Honours at South Sydney
Domestic CvC / Interstate : Tourists : Other
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
Sydney City 1969 1 1 - - - - - : :
New South Wales 1969 4 4 - - - - - : :
Sydney City II 1970-72 : : 2 2 - - - - -
TOTAL 7 7 - - - - -
International Internationals : Other
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
Australia 1967-71 4 4 - - - - - : 11 11 - 1 - - 3
TOTAL 15 15 - 1 - - 3
ALL REPS 22 22 - 1 - - 3
Captaincy CvC/Interstate/Internationals : Tourists : Other
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
Sydney City II 1970-72 : : 2( 2- 0-0 100%)
Sydney City 1969 1( 1- 0-0 100%) : :
New South Wales 1969 4( 4- 0-0 100%) : :
Australia 1969-70 3( 1- 0-2 33%) : 2( 2- 0-0 100%) :
ALL REPS 12( 10- 0-2 83%)
Year Pos Team Versus Match T G/A FG
1967 Australia (Kangaroo Tour Squad)
1967 Prop Australia v Yorkshire Tour Match - - - (Sent Off - Punching)
1967 Prop Australia v Hull KR Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Rochdale Hornets Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v St Helens Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Castleford Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Oldham Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Widnes Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Cumberland Tour Match - - -
1967 Prop Australia v Swinton Tour Match - - -
1969 Prop Sydney City v NSW Country - - - (c) W
1969 New South Wales (Queensland Tour Squad) (c)
1969 Prop New South Wales v Queensland 1st Match - - - (c) W
1969 Prop New South Wales v Queensland 2nd Match - - - (c) W (Sent off - Punching and later cautioned)
1969 Australia (New Zealand Tour Squad) (c)
1969 Prop Australia v North Island Colts Tour Match 1 - - (c) W
1969 Prop Australia v New Zealand 1st Test - - - (c) W
1969 Prop Australia v NZ South Island Tour Match - - - (c) W
1969 Prop Australia v New Zealand 2nd Test - - - (c) L
1969 Prop New South Wales v Queensland 3rd Match - - - (c) W
1969 Prop New South Wales v Queensland 4th Match - - - (c) W
1970 Prop Sydney City II v NSW Country II - - - (c) W
1970 Prop Australia v Great Britain 2nd Test - - - (c) L
1971 Australia (New Zealand Tour Squad)
1971 Prop Australia v New Zealand Test - - -
1972 Prop Sydney City II v NSW Country II - - - (c) W
After Leaving South Sydney
When Sattler moved to Brisbane he was immediately selected as Queensland captain and had the rare honour of captaining, Queensland and New South Wales and Australia.
Subsequent Clubs First Grade
Premiership : Cup
M T G FG Pt : M T G FG Pt
Western Suburbs (Brisbane) (1973-74) 38 4 - - 12 : 14 1 - - 3 (1974 Captain-Coach)
Northern Suburbs (Brisbane) (1975) 13 2 - - 6 : 7 - - - -
Subsequent Rep Honours M T G FG Pt
Queensland-Imports (1973) 1 - - - - (c)
South Queensland (1973) 1 - - - - (c)
Queensland (1973-74) 4 - - - - (c)
Brisbane City I (1974) 1 - - - -
After retiring Sattler was a key member in establishing a NSWRL rugby league team on the Gold Coast.
First Class Career (1962-75)
M T G FG Pts
Total FG Premiership 195 12 - - 36
Total FG Cup 54 4 - - 12
Total FG Club Tour 3 - - - -
Total FG Brisbane 51 6 - - 18
Total FG Brisbane Cup 21 1 - - 3
Total State 8 - - - -
Total Internationals 4 - - - -
Total Other Representative 18 1 - - 3
TOTAL FIRST CLASS 354 24 - - 72
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