Sam Backo made an impact on and off the field during his time with the Raiders. Photo: TRACQS.
Sam Backo was cut from a different cloth than the average NRL player.
Legend has it that in 1983, Sam Backo walked into the Queanbeyan Leagues Club office of Don Furner, the Canberra Raiders coach at the time, and said he was ready to play first grade.
The Raiders hadn’t signed Sam, but he had been on their radar since 1981.
As then secretary manager John McIntyre remembers, Sam was playing for the Valley Statesmen in the local second division as a teenager after coming back to Canberra from North Queensland.
Under the rules at the time, teams were restricted to 13 imports, which meant the Raiders had to source players from local competitions. Rarely, though, did they come from second division competitions.
He played seven games in that first season in 1983.
Backo with his wife Christabel. Photo: Facebook.
As his career progressed, he became a key player in the Raiders’ side that made the grand final in 1987 against Manly, packing down in the front row with Brent Todd and Steve Walters, as he went on to play 114 games for the Green Machine.
John McIntyre said Sam made an impact on and off the field during his time with the Raiders.
“He was great to have around the Club. He was certainly one of the toughest players to have played for the Raiders. In the days before the interchange, he played 80 minutes every game.”
There was, however, one memorable 80-minute stint for Sam in reserve grade.
It was in 1988. The Raiders played a NSWRL club game at Seiffert Oval soon after a test match. Coach Tim Sheen requested that Canberra players wear their Raiders gear, not their Australian apparel, to the game.
Sheens wanted the Kangaroos’ representative players to adopt a Raiders mindset when they took to the field for Canberra.
Sam turned up in his Australian tracksuit and was promptly dropped to reserve grade for one game. It’s one of the few times a test player has played reserve grade after playing a test for his country.
He took it on the chin and produced a destructive performance. He was back in first grade the following week.
At the end of the 1988 season, Sam signed with the English team Leeds where he played 18 games before joining the Broncos the following season.
He played six tests and seven games for Queensland.
Mr McIntyre said Sam was passionate about playing for Queensland, winning the player of the match award in games two and three in his first series for the Maroons.
“He could have played for NSW given he played for the Valley Statesmen as a young player before signing with the Raiders. He was determined, though, to play for Queensland because of his North Queensland origins.”
‘Slammin Sam’ as he was affectionately known was as tough as they come on the field but a gentle giant with a sense of humour off it, and he was incredibly supportive of others. He was particularly enthused about advancing the aspirations of Indigenous Australians.
In 2008, he was named in the Australian Indigenous team of the century.
His death at the age of 64 years followed a three-month battle with the tropical disease melioidosis. He will be remembered as Raiders player Number 43.
Original Article published by Tim Gavel on Region Canberra.
