Australian rugby league is in mourning following the death of former Kangaroos prop Sam Backo. He was 64.
The Indigenous prop died in hospital in Cairns after a short battle with the rare tropical disease melioidosis which exacerbated an ongoing heart condition.
There have been 35 people killed in Queensland this year due to the bacterial disease.
Backo, who suffered a heart attack two years ago, was a larger than life character on and off the field.
His sisters, Dolores, Charmaene, Kathrine and Jewel, released a joint statement on Sunday to pay tribute to their brother.
“He was of course all those things, but he was also a strong fighter for his people, the Warrgamay people and the South Sea Islander community, descended from Ni-Vanuatu and Solomon Islander people kidnapped as slave labour for the Queensland and NSW sugar industry,” they said.
“Even as he lay in the Cairns Hospital’s intensive care unit, he made sure he sent a message of condolence to the family of a friend who had just passed.
“Just one example of the measure of the man.”
Backo started his premiership career with Canberra in 1983 and was an integral part of the Raiders gaining respectability in the NSWRL.
He was a member of the team that made the grand final in 1987, playing in the 18-8 loss to Manly at the SCG.
Backo broke into the Queensland and Australian teams the following season, playing seven Origins and six Tests for the Kangaroos over the next three years.
With his trademark barges from close range, he scored three tries for the Maroons and Australia.
He was an integral part of Queensland’s back-to-back series clean sweeps in 1988-89.
Backo joined the Broncos in ‘89 but injuries limited him to just 20 appearances before he retired at the end of 1990.
His mother, the late Evelyn Scott, was a noted Indigenous activist and Backo devoted much of his time after his playing career to helping First Nations people.
He attended Australia’s first national Indigenous Constitutional Convention at Uluru in 2017 and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contributions to rugby league on and off the field.
