Fonda Metassa (died 26 May 2018) was an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. Known as "the Golden Greek", he played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for Fortitude Valley and Norths, and in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

in the 1960s. A powerful winger, Metassa played two seasons (1960 and 1961) for South Sydney. He became a part of Brisbane Rugby League folklore when, in a 1968 reserve grade match for Norths against Souths at

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

, he burst from the back of an ambulance to return to the field after being carted off injured. Metassa also played one match for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in 1966. The following season he played in Norths' Brisbane Rugby League

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

loss to

Brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

. Metassa was part of the 1969 BRL premiership-winning Norths side. He later worked as a television presenter. In 2008, Metassa was named on the wing of an all-time greatest Norths Devils team.

References

External links

Fonda Metassa at nrlstats.comQueensland representatives at qrl.com.au
1930s births 2018 deaths Australian rugby league players Fortitude Valley Diehards players Norths Devils players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league wingers South Sydney Rabbitohs players Year of birth missing Place of birth missing 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1930s-stub