John Sattler famously played the 1970 NSWRFL Grand Final after suffering a broken jaw.
Sattler was South Sydney’s captain when Manly forward John Bucknall struck him early in the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite the injury, Sattler refused to leave the field and continued playing.
South Sydney won the grand final 23–12, with Sattler leading the Rabbitohs through the remainder of the contest. His determination became one of Australian rugby league’s most enduring stories.
Sattler later required medical treatment for the fractured jaw. The incident is sometimes confused with other famous tough performances in rugby league, but the broken-jaw grand-final story is specifically associated with Sattler’s 1970 captaincy.