SATTLER’S SON PAYS TRIBUTE TO LEGEND

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).

“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 backrower, 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.