Seagulls Stadium was a rugby league stadium located on Gollan Drive in West Tweed Heads, New South Wales .
52-553: Originally known as Chris Cunningham Field , it was the home ground of the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants rugby league franchise, who entered the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in 1988. Tweed Heads was chosen as the venue for Giants games, despite the club's name indicating they were based in the nearby state of Queensland . This was due to a clause in the expansion licence, which stated that only one team
104-716: A Brisbane -based team for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership . In February 2008, Sattler was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. In 2010 he was named as captain of Kurri Rugby League Club's team of the century. Sattler entered the hotel business, first in Gladstone, and later at places such as Bribie Island, Queen's hotel in Southport and Broadbeach. He
156-527: A 20 all draw with Newcastle. The victories over Penrith and Balmain were The Seagulls first over those sides. Along with a 12–10 defeat of Canberra in round six. Crowds at Seagulls Stadium rose 11 percent to an average of 9,468 per match. The club's leading point scorer for the season was Wayne Bartrim who scored 46 points (3 tries and 17 goals). The club's leading try scorers crossed 6 times. They were Danny Peacock and Steve Jackson. John Sattler John William Sattler (28 July 1942 – 20 March 2023)
208-447: A draw. The team's only wins for the season were a 16–8 home win over Parramatta at Seagulls Stadium in Round 5, while their last win for the year came in Round 9 with a 16–12 win over fellow 1988 team Newcastle at Marathon Stadium . The Seagulls then lost their final 13 games of the season, with their closest loss coming in Round 21 (the penultimate round) when they gallantly went down 18–20 to
260-425: A forearm by Manly forward John Bucknall while not in possession of the ball. He suffered a double fracture to his jaw but pleaded to teammate Mike Cleary , "Hold me up so they don't know I'm hurt". He was helped up and continued to play in the game. At half time Souths were leading 12–6 when his teammates learnt about his injury. During the interval he refused treatment and insisted he continue playing. He also told
312-713: A memorable on. They went undefeated for four weeks drawing with Western Suburbs 12 all, and defeating; the Newcastle Knights 12–6, the North Sydney Bears 6–4, and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 29–6. The Victory against The Sea Eagles was the club's biggest win at the time. Young halfback Geoffrey "Geoff" Bagnall stood tall for The Giants during that period. Particularly playing well in the draw against The Magpies. The experience of players such as Ron Gibbs, Chris Close and Billy Johnstone proved invaluable to
364-590: A nursery of young players in which the club was able to draw on for recruitment. The Giants were formed, swiftly, after the Internationals Syndicate Including, John Sattler , Peter Gallagher, Bob Hagan and Doug Ryan had missed out on their bid to win the contract to bring a Brisbane team into the Sydney competition. They were joined by veterans Bob McCarthy as coach, Graeme Langlands as team manager and Ken Irvine as sprint coach. A key signing for
416-572: A player. Two of the better performances of the season came against the defending premiers, the Canberra Raiders . In the round four at Bruce Stadium , the Seagulls went down 20–18 to the Raiders who were missing Gary Belcher , Laurie Daley and Bradley Clyde . And in Round 19 played at Seagulls Stadium the Seagulls led 10–8 with only ten minutes to play, before the Raiders managed a late victory with
468-567: A scoreline of 9–0. This win was Gold Coast's first win away from Seagulls Stadium. Rampaging young forward Keith Neller , who was once touted as a potential State of Origin player, produced strong performances during the season. Most notably his round 17 performance in a 25–10 victory against the Illawarra Steelers . During the 1988 season Billy Johnstone and Ben Gonzales both appeared in 21 games. Mike Eden scored 79 points (1 try, 36 goals, 3 field goals) and Scott Mieni scored 8 tries to lead
520-522: A song "The Day John Sattler Broke his Jaw" in 2007. Music reviewer Lauren Katulka said the song deserved to be an Australian classic: "It was so good that I wondered why we don’t all know it, the way we know ' Khe Sanh ' and ' The Horses ' ". Indie band The Whitlams in its iteration with the Black Stump Band covered it in 2022. Frontman Tim Freedman described it as "the greatest song ever written about rugby league". The video clip features footage of
572-581: A sports venue in Australia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in New South Wales is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994 , the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997 , and
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#1732859191118624-588: A then club record 38–12 win in August, which was also the club's first win away from home. Brett French and Robert Grogan both scored 2 tries each. Gold Coast coach Bob McCarthy dealt with speculation over his future for most of the season. Although it wasn't until the final match of the season that he was told his services were no longer required. He was replaced for the 1991 season by reserve grade coach and former Canterbury-Bankstown (1973–77) and Leeds (1985) first grade coach Malcolm Clift . The Seagulls were happy with
676-499: A tough personal duel, while Peter Smith, Chris Close and Mark Gee all turned in their best displays of the season for the Giants. Match score: Gold Coast 25 (Scott Mieni 2, Chris Close, Ron Gibbs tries; Troy McCarthy 4 goals; Mark Gee field Goal) defeated Brisbane 22 (Wally Lewis 2, Terry Matterson , Greg Cornescu tries; Terry Matterson 3 goals) The 1989 season saw the much heralded arrival of Bob Lindner . He would write his name into
728-603: A try to Australian captain Mal Meninga . Young Brett Horsnell playing in his third season with The Seagulls proved to be one of the most consistent and durable players for the team in 1991. Playing centre and some lock. Horsnell appeared in 20 out of 22 matches and played solid football for the team. Former Balmain Tigers , NSW and Australian representative winger Larry Corowa made a surprise return to First Grade football after an absence of seven seasons. His return in Round 14 against
780-556: The National Rugby League premiership in 1998 . They first played under the name Gold Coast-Tweed Giants (in silver, black and white colours) from 1988 to 1989, then Gold Coast Seagulls (wearing white, black and red) from 1990 to 1995, very briefly as the Gold Coast Gladiators and finally Gold Coast Chargers (in jade, black, purple and gold uniforms) from 1996 to 1998. The Gold Coast-Tweed Giants were admitted to
832-797: The New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the 1988 season , along with the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights . Due to a clause in Brisbane's licence, only one team (the Broncos) could play in South-East Queensland . As a result, the Giants played out of the now demolished Seagulls Stadium in Tweed Heads , New South Wales , just over the border, which was home to the Tweed Heads Seagulls RLFC . Gold Coast and Group 18 provided
884-468: The Queensland state side against New South Wales in 1973 before retiring from professional rugby league the following year. Sattler was sent off fifteen times during his career and served a total of 30 weeks of suspensions. But he is remembered for his physical and mental toughness rather than his poor disciplinary record. In the mid-1980s John Sattler was involved in one of the unsuccessful bids to form
936-552: The South Sydney Rabbitohs saw him playing fullback, he also scored a try in the match. 1991 saw the club farewell foundation players Geoff Bagnall , Chris Close , Ben Gonzales , and Robert Simpkins . These farewells were offset by the arrival of young goal kicking forward Wayne Bartrim who played at both hooker and lock for the club. The club's leading point scorer for the season was Wayne Bartrim who scored 38 points (4 tries and 11 goals). The club's leading try scorer
988-672: The 1970 Grand Final, he was not selected as captain for the Australian touring side announced later that night for the World Cup in England. However he had previously been selected in Australia's tour of Britain and France in 1967 and in the Australian teams which toured New Zealand in 1969 and 1971, in which he was selected as captain. He only managed to play in four tests for Australia, captaining his nation in three out of those four games. He captained
1040-598: The 1970 grand final, Sattler played with a broken jaw to help Souths to victory over Manly. In the premiership decider of 1970 South Sydney were up against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 19 September. Having lost the previous Grand Final to the Balmain Tigers , Souths were desperate to win. Approximately ten minutes into the game Sattler collapsed after being hit with
1092-534: The 1970 grand final. Round 4 2023 Rabbitohs wore a commemorative jersey featuring the famous "torn rabbit" which was made famous in Sattler's 1970 Grand Final performance, with the Sattler family joining the playing staff for a minute's silence prior to kick-off against Manly Warringah Sea Eagles the same club from that grand final At the 13th minute, the Accor Stadium crowd – led by The Burrow – brought in
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#17328591911181144-523: The Brisbane Broncos in front of 12,620 fans at home. While the arrival of Wally Lewis failed to bring the on field results, crowds rose 29 percent at Seagulls Stadium and 36 percent overall, a factor that could only be attributed to the arrival of Lewis. In all Lewis played only 14 of 22 matches for Gold Coast in 1991, also missing games while captaining Queensland to a 2–1 Origin series win over New South Wales in what would be his final Origin series as
1196-513: The Giants franchise in 1990, the team was renamed Gold Coast Seagulls to reflect their home stadium. The club's woeful record on the field (they finished with the wooden spoon three straight seasons, from 1991 to 1993) and the Super League war forced the club to sell the stadium and fold the team after the 1995 season. Without a viable tenant, and being a largely inferior facility to nearby Carrara Stadium , Seagulls Stadium sat dormant until it
1248-467: The anticipated wins. Shaw, who like Daley was a member of Manly's 1987 premiership side and had led Manly's reserve grade team to the 1988 premiership, joined the Seagulls looking for a permanent first grade spot after being stuck in reserve grade behind Geoff Toovey , Cliff Lyons and Des Hasler at Manly Brett French (21 games) and Mohr (20 games), rendered good service throughout the season, but 1986 Kangaroo tourist Daley, and Shaw failed to reproduce
1300-509: The arrival of these players didn't help the club avoid coming last in the NSWRL Premiership for the second consecutive season. Injury and Origin limited Shearer to just seven games, while former Canberra Raiders lower grade halfback Jason Gregory suffered a serious neck injury in the pre-season tournament ending his football career. A heroic twelve man victory against the Illawarra Steelers in round three at home should have ranked among
1352-459: The club during what was a very good season for the team. They were consistently among the best players and many of the younger players in the side benefited from their expertise. Keith Neller suffered several injuries during the 1989 campaign that limited his effectiveness for the Giants Home crowd attendances improved despite very poor weather. The club's leading points scorer for the 1989 season
1404-539: The club for the 1991 season after a falling out with the Brisbane Broncos and their coach Wayne Bennett . This news came upon a season where the club was expected to show further improvement. A buying program prior to the season landed the signatures of 1987 Manly premiership player, NSW Origin representative and Australian international Phil Daley , former Queensland State of Origin centre Brett French , Manly half Paul Shaw, and former St George outside back Clinton Mohr. However these players could not help deliver
1456-425: The club was Ron Gibbs , Second-row forward who had won the 1987 Grand Final while playing for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles . Other major recruits were: Chris Close (Manly), Mike Eden ( Parramatta ), Ben Gonzales ( Penrith ), Neil Hunt ( Parramatta ), Billy Johnstone ( St George ), and Tony Rampling ( Eastern Suburbs ). The Giants only won 4 matches during the 1988 NSWRL season . Their first victory
1508-528: The development of youngsters Tony Durheim, Eddie Fallins, Michael Searle and Brett Horsnell . However disappointment continued for two of their young stars. Halfback Geoffrey Bagnall , who was expected to help lift the struggling side, only made nine run on starts with the club, while veteran forward Keith Neller made only 10 appearances. Injury and some poor form cost Neller a chance to play State of Origin football for Queensland in 1990 . The Seagulls veteran hooker, Billy Johnstone announced his retirement at
1560-625: The end of the season. He appeared in 61 games for the club since its inception. Ron Gibbs also announced he would return to Sydney when he signed to play for Western Suburbs at the end of the season. The top point scorer for The Seagulls was Peter Benson with 44 points (1 Try, 19 goals). The leading try scorers for the team scoring 6 tries each were; Brett French , Clinton Mohr and three-quarter Mark Ross. The Seagulls showed steady improvement with their crowd figures. From an average home crowd of 5,495 in 1988 support grew to 6624 in 1990. Overall crowds had grown from 6,199 to 7,175. The 1991 season
1612-519: The field – hence his other nickname "Gentleman John". His son Scott Sattler also played professionally, winning a premiership with the Penrith Panthers in 2003. John Sattler was born in 1942 at Telarah, New South Wales , and moved to Kurri Kurri with his family when he was 12 years old. His paternal great-great-grandfather, Peter Sattler, was a German immigrant who arrived in Maitland in
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1664-420: The first captain/coach of an NSWRL team since Bob Fulton with Eastern Suburbs in 1979 . However, on Saturday, 29 August 1992 in front of a crowd of 10,160 at Seagulls Stadium the team sent Lewis into retirement by defeating the defending premiers Penrith by 12 points to 8. Lewis capped off the match by scoring a try. Other highlights during the season were victories over South Sydney 20–6, Balmain 26-14 and
1716-623: The first player to be bestowed with such an honour while still playing. In 2004, John was named Captain of South Sydney's "Dream Team" and in 2010 received a similar honour in Kurri Kurri Rugby League's "Team of the Century". In 2012, John was honoured when the grandstand at Kurri Kurri Rugby League Ground was named after him. In 2007, John was the Australia Day Ambassador to Cessnock. Australian artist Perry Keyes released
1768-530: The form that earned a premiership playing together for Manly. The 1990 season started well with a round four victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs , but this was to be their last victory for three months. Their quest to ward off the Wooden Spoon looked forlorn for much of the season. But the Seagulls finished the season with three victories in their final six matches. And in doing so, leapfrogged 1989 minor premiers South Sydney. The Seagulls overtook Souths with
1820-592: The four seasons of 1967 , 1968 , 1970 and 1971 . He also captained his team in the Grand Final in 1969 where they lost to Balmain. He could play at lock forward but played his best football and enjoyed his premiership and national representative success as a prop forward . After 195 games with South Sydney, and four premiership victories, John Sattler signed for Brisbane Western Suburbs in 1973. In 1975 he signed with Norths Devils as their captain-coach (13 first grade premiership games, scoring two tries). In
1872-465: The late 1890s aged 6. He attended Marist Brothers High School in Maitland, New South Wales , Sattler began playing rugby league at the late age of 16 for Kurri Kurri and represented Newcastle against the touring British side in 1962. The following year he moved to Sydney and joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs . In 1967 he was appointed South Sydney Rabbitohs' captain and led them to premiership wins in
1924-529: The most courageous wins in Gold Coast's short history. New Zealand test prop Brent Todd was sent off in the opening minutes, but the club battled on to win the match 18–8. However the joy was short lived as the NSWRL stripped the Seagulls of their two competition points for fielding an illegal replacement. Gold Coast had used Ken Jackson as a fifth replacement instead of using only the maximum of four. Gold Coast finished
1976-478: The premiership. Lack of playing depth and financial concerns hung over the club for the season. The Giants showcased some of the games emerging young talent halfback Geoffrey "Geoff" Bagnall . Bagnall the former Brisbane Norths showed class in attack and handled the transition to "big time" football with distinction. Bagnall was the architect of a Giants victory over fellow newcomers the Newcastle Knights with
2028-431: The record books by becoming the club's first State of Origin representative when he played for Queensland in the first State of Origin match in 1989. Unfortunately Lindner's appearances for the Giants were limited to only 10 games. Lindner would leave the club after only one season. The Giants won seven games and drew one in the 1989 season which was a great improvement on their first season. The month of June proved to be
2080-562: The season with eleven points from twenty two games, finishing last. However, if The Seagulls had retained the points the club would have finished ahead of Parramatta on percentage. Finishing with the Wooden Spoon was an inglorious end for Wally Lewis. During the season Lewis showed the qualities that elevated him to among the games greats. However, age and injury had caught up to the 32-year-old, and he also lacked support from his mostly inexperienced teammates. Lewis also made history by becoming
2132-475: The side, "the next bloke who tries to cut me out of the play is in trouble", to prevent his teammates trying to protect him from further injury. At the end of the game South Sydney had scored 3 tries to nil in a 23–12 victory. He later went to hospital to receive treatment but only after receiving the Giltinan Shield and making an acceptance speech. John Bucknall did not finish the game. Being injured during
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2184-538: The team in try scoring. In February 1989 the Giants were taken over by the Seagulls Leagues Club. This assured the club's financial future. Two and a half months and eight losses after entering the NSWRL the Gold Coast Giant's scored their historic victory over their rivals the Brisbane Broncos. In front of their biggest crowd and against competition heavyweights the Giants scored a famous 25–22 victory. It
2236-418: Was Brett French with 5. The 1992 season for The Seagulls saw the arrival of Canberra Raiders trio Brent Todd , Paul Martin and Jason Gregory, Queensland State of Origin representative Steve Jackson , Australian and Queensland star Dale Shearer (yet another Manly premiership player from 1987), Queensland and Newcastle Knights forward Mike McLean , and utility player Peter Gill from St George. However
2288-494: Was a grand final for the Giants, pumped up as never before – and they showed remarkable resilience and determination to defy a late Broncos challenge. The match was close and thoroughly exciting throughout with the lead changing five times during the game. The Giants were deserving winners, and ended nine weeks of frustration and misery where they had come so close to winning but had only a draw to show for their toil. Billy Johnstone outplayed State of Origin hooker Greg Conescu in
2340-457: Was again Mike Eden who scored a mere 63 points (3 tries, 25 goals, 1 field goal). The leading try scorer was Peter Benson who scored 7 tries. The worrying aspect for the club overall was that the team could only score 34 tries, 3 fewer than in 1988. Although the club showed great improvement in defense conceding 101 fewer points than the previous season. Major Sponsor The Gold Coast Giants' name
2392-546: Was allowed to play in South East Queensland (this was awarded to the Brisbane Broncos , who also entered the premiership in 1988). The stadium's capacity was close to 13,500. The record attendance was 13,423 for a match between the Giants and the Broncos on 8 May 1988. This was also the Giants first ever win in the NSWRL Premiership when they shocked the 'Big Brother' Broncos 25–22. When the Seagulls Leagues Club purchased
2444-401: Was an Australian professional rugby league footballer played as a prop in the 1960s and 1970s. He captained South Sydney to four premiership victories from 1967 to 1971 and who played four Tests for Australia – three as national captain. Known as "Satts", he was one of the hardmen of Australian rugby league and was regarded as an aggressive on field player but a softly spoken gentleman off
2496-527: Was by 25–22 against the Brisbane Broncos in front of 13,423 at Seagulls Stadium, Ron Gibbs appeared in just 14 games during the season. Another major signing Tony Rampling only made one appearance. The Giants played their first premiership match at Seagulls Stadium on Saturday 5 March, against the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs in which they were defeated 21 points to 10. The team was: The Giants avoided coming last in their first season in
2548-481: Was changed to Gold Coast Seagulls , but although the Tweed reference was dropped from the name, they continued to play out of Seagulls Stadium. Along with a change of name came a change of colours to black, white, and red. The biggest news in the history of Gold Coast followed the Seagulls most traumatic year in the NSWRL. The revelation that former Australian captain and State of Origin player Wally Lewis , would be joining
2600-558: Was dismantled and the site bulldozed. A housing complex now covers the site. The stadium's electronic scoreboard, 3500-seat grandstands and 40 corporate boxes were purchased in 2000 by the Wollongong Wolves football (soccer) team, based over 900 kilometres (560 mi) away. These pieces formed the basis of a new 14,000-seat stadium in Figtree , a suburb of Wollongong , which was scheduled to open in 2008. This article about
2652-658: Was supporter of the Southport-based Gold Coast Vikings and was part of the consortium which gained a licence for the Tweed Heads-based Gold Coast-Tweed Giants in the 1988 NSWRL premiership . In 2014 he released an autobiography Glory, Glory: My Life . John Sattler saved a man's life from an oncoming train at Jannali railway station . He was inducted as a Life Member of the South Sydney Football Club in 1972,
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#17328591911182704-403: Was the worst season to that point for Gold Coast in their club's history. However, the club produced its first international player when Wally Lewis was selected for the first test of the 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand , while the reserve grade team made the finals series for the first time. The club's on field results were the worst in its short history, with just two wins and
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