“Everyone talks about the grand final and the broken jaw,but I found out how tough Satts was in my first year of first grade,” premiership-winning teammate McCarthy said. “I said to Satts,‘How long are you out for?’ and he said,‘Nah,I’m playing’.
“In those days there were no doctors,just a medical box with smelling salts,bandages and scissors. Satts got the scissors out,cut the plaster off,played the whole 80 minutes,smashed blokes,then went back to South Sydney hospital to get another cast.
“We knew then he was not only tough but mad.”
Rugby league remembered Sattler,with red,green and the game in his veins on Monday after the Rabbitohs icon passed away,aged 80,after battling dementia in recent years.
For all the tales of toughness - which Sattler undoubtedly embodied - words like “impeccably dressed” and a “true gentleman” rang just as true from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Souths figures Ron Coote,Sam Burgess and Rabbitohs chairman Nick Pappas.
Long regarded as one of the foundation club’s greatest players,Sattler captained the Rabbitohs to four premierships between 1967 and 1971 in a career spanning 195 appearances for the club and four Kangaroos Tests.