Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Ronald William Saddler
- Born
- Saturday, 14th March, 1942
- Died
- Thursday, 12th May, 2016 (Aged 74 years and 59 days)
- Place Of Birth
- Lake Cargelligo, New South Wales, Australia
Honours & Awards
Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.
- Interstate Series
- 1967, 1968
- City vs Country Firsts
- 1969
Biography
Murwillumbah centre represented Country as a winger in 1962 before coming to Easts. Saddler captained NSW Colts against France in 1964 and captain-coached NSW in one of his three appearances for the state in 1967 (he also represented NSW against the visiting Kiwis that year). A solid defender, he toured with the 1967-68 Kangaroos and played in 12 minor matches in England and France. His last rep game was as a late call-up to the NSW side in 1968.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
| Tour Matches | NSW Colts | - | 1 | 1 | 6 | - | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | Australia | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 2 | 1 | 75.00% | List | |||
| Representative Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate Series | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | - | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| City vs Country Firsts | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Club Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | - | 118 | 22 | 13 | - | 92 | 46 | 68 | 4 | 38.98% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Finals | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | - | 28 | 3 | 8 | - | 25 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 25.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||||
| First Class | 167 | 28 | 32 | - | 148 | 69 | 95 | 6 | 41.32% | List | |||||
Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSW Country Seconds | 1962 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Sydney Colts | 1964 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Colts | 1964 | 1 | 1 | 6 | - | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW City Seconds | 1967-70 | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Firsts | 1967-68 | 7 | 2 | 5 | - | 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.14% | List | ||||
| NSW City Firsts | 1969 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1962-1970 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 41 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 60.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1963 | 14 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 21.43% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1964 | 18 | 4 | 5 | - | 22 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 11.11% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1966 | 14 | 3 | 3 | - | 15 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1967 | 22 | 4 | - | - | 12 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 54.55% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1968 | 18 | 5 | - | - | 15 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1969 | 16 | 3 | 5 | - | 19 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 43.75% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1970 | 13 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 61.54% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1971 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 1963-64, 1966-71 | 118 | 22 | 13 | - | 92 | 46 | 68 | 4 | 38.98% | List | ||||
Contributions:
AJ Lucantonio, Rugby League Tables, Greg Fiveash, Tony McCarron, Andrew Ferguson, Max Turner, Paul Carter, Wests Archives, Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Derek Farrar, Tim Costello
Your Say
29 Aug 2011 2:22pm
wonderful defensive centre, what he lacked in pace
he made up for with tackling. of aboriginal heritage
i believe he came from the country town of Euabolong. extremely long place kicker although not always accurate,i seen him kick a goal from 65
mtrs once out at the old sports ground and won $10
from the bloke next to me on the hill.
23 Nov 2011 12:12pm
Ron Saddler is my first cousin and I remember my father Henry Saddler taking me to a footy match in Sydney to watch him. As I am the youngest in my family I was to young to appreciate what a great example he was for all of us.Sent with love Chris Saddler
30 Jan 2012 4:02pm
i Played with Ron when he was captain/coach of Murwillumbah Bros in 1975 hardest hitter that I ever played with a real gentleman and friend for life
19 Apr 2015 7:58pm
ron was an inspiration to me as a boy,i use to watch him tackle, he was one of the best ! thank you Ronnie.
14 May 2015 6:57am
Ron Saddler will always be my favourite rugby league player/person associated with Eastern Suburbs. When he visited me as an 11 year old in Prince of Wales hospital I was in awe of him as a player and a man. What a positive impact that had on me at the time and the respect a guy like Ron had amongst my family & friends. He always played the game in the true spirit and ranks as one of the great cover defenders to ever play rugby league.
12 May 2016 6:10pm
RIP Ron Saddler.
15 May 2016 8:16am
Old drinking buddy from sydney county council r i p.
16 May 2016 4:56pm
Ron was the best exponent of the flying tackle i have ever seen. He would run across the field and catch the fastest wingers forcing them into touch, His arms forward and his body parallel to the ground was a sight to be seen and feared Todays footballers would do well to learn this art,
Maybe the coaches of today do not include this in their coaching instructions
15 Sep 2016 7:50pm
Murwillumbah Old Boys 1974 also Wamoon in late fifties at school. Wonderful man and friend. I am sure Ronnie captained NSW in a couple of Interstate Games and he definitely toured with the 67 Kangaroos also captaining Australia in some second tier tour matches. I just wish this could be placed on his CV. Sadly he passed away early in 2016. Rest In Peace
22 Apr 2017 1:28pm
My favourite easts or roosters player. In the difficult years such as 1966, Ron was a devastating defender. And there was much to defend. My clearest memory is of him dashing across the field in cover defence to save his team. Loved him.
10 Mar 2019 10:30pm
Ronny was my schoolboy hero when he played for Murwillumbah Brothers when they won the premiership in 1961-62. I then watched him play for Eastern Suburbs when I lived in Sydney from 1968-71. I remember seeing him the day he captain-coached NSW against France at the SCG.
In 1975 I had the privilege of playing with him when he returned as captain-coach of Murwillumbah Brothers. He was a wonderful footballer but above all a true gentleman.
3 Jun 2019 2:04pm
Champion Centre for Eastern Suburbs ,a great defensive centre Reg Gasnier said the hardest centre he played against , a true gentleman that played the game fair
but his jolting tackles put the wind up a lot of opposition players , his great mate Kev Junee and Ron carried the Roosters for quite a few years.
27 Mar 2023 2:08pm
Seen Rons name in the newspaper somewhere the other day, brought back wonderful memories for me as a young fellow watching Ron playing for Eastern Suburbs. What a devastating defender , hardly missed one, played for the love of the game, he was my favourite player back then along with Kevin Junee. A true gentleman, but more a true blue Aussie, greatly missed, wonderful memories he left us all..Still my favourite player..????
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