Ronald William Saddler was an Australian

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 who played in the 1960s and 1970s. A

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and Australian international representative three-quarter back, he played in Sydney's

NSWRFL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

for the Eastern Suburbs club. Originally from Euabalong, New South Wales, and of

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

descent, Ron first played rugby league for

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the Tweed Shire local government ...

. Saddler also played for the Sydney club Eastern Suburbs from 1963 to 1964 and 1966–71. An Aboriginal , Saddler was selected for the 1967/68

Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

, playing in 12 matches, but no tests. Saddler has been allocated Eastern Suburbs player number 529. He was the first indigenous player to captain

, six years before

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

. Ron Saddler's former

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

teammate Kevin Junee, another 1967–68 Kangaroo, said "Saddler got the nod as the Blues' captain in 1967 because he was respected by teammates and opponents alike". Upon his retirement from Sydney, he captain-coached Murwillumbah Brothers for a number of years in the 1970s. He resided in the Murwillumbah Area until his death in May 2016.David Middleton – League Historian. 'Forgotten Indigenous Star' 4/02/2013

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney 1942 births 2016 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Indigenous Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team captains New South Wales rugby league team players Sydney Roosters players Sydney Roosters captains Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league centres Rugby league players from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1940s-stub