40 Facts About Arthur Beetson

Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach.

Arthur Beetson represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981.

Arthur Beetson had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Arthur Beetson is remembered as man of great humility who cared deeply about his people and culture.

The Arthur Beetson Foundation was so named to honour Beetson, and the Arthur Beetson Medal is awarded to rugby league players who show both outstanding skills and similar personal qualities to Beetson.

Arthur Beetson was born in Roma, Queensland on 21 January 1945.

Arthur Beetson's off-loading and attacking workrate broke the mould for front rowers and changed the way they played the game.

Arthur Beetson was selected to make his representative debut for Australia against England and set up the first two tries.

Arthur Beetson represented Australia again at the 1968 Rugby League World Cup, playing at prop forward in the win against France in the tournament final.

Arthur Beetson then played with Balmain, with a spell in England with Hull Kingston Rovers in 1968.

Arthur Beetson possessed great strength and toughness, a surprising turn of speed for a big man and was unequalled as a ball player.

Arthur Beetson continued to represent Australia at the 1972 Rugby League World Cup, playing against Great Britain at prop forward in the tournament final which was drawn.

Arthur Beetson then became the first aboriginal player to captain Australia in the second test against France.

Arthur Beetson was known and immortalised by his performance of eating 11 hot dogs before a gala dinner for the Australian team in 1973.

Arthur Beetson captained Eastern Suburbs to the 1974 and 1975 premierships.

Arthur Beetson captained Queensland for the final 'traditional' interstate match in 1981 and at the end of the season the Dolphins were beaten in the final minute of the grand final by Southern Suburbs.

Arthur Beetson's coaching career began while still playing for Easts in 1977.

Arthur Beetson was captain-coach of Redcliffe in 1981 and that season was appointed coach of the Queensland State of Origin side, taking them to repeated series victories over New South Wales from 1981 to 1984.

Arthur Beetson had a brief, but unsuccessful period, coaching Australia in 1983 before returning to coach his former club Eastern Suburbs, from 1985 to 1988, being named Coach of the Year in 1987.

Arthur Beetson coached the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks for the 1992 and 1993 seasons, where he enjoyed mixed success.

Part-way through the 1994 NSWRL season Arthur Beetson briefly replaced the sacked Mark Murray as coach of the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.

Arthur Beetson has spent many years as a recruitment officer for both Eastern Suburbs and Queensland.

Arthur Beetson then pushed, unsuccessfully, for an Australia Day match against the Australian national team.

Arthur Beetson appeared at the Beenleigh lions JRLFC as an Assistant Coach to the Beenleigh Lions JRLFC under 18s alongside Michael Hansen before his untimely passing.

Arthur Beetson is often regarded as Australia's best ever forward, and in 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal, then in 2001 the Centenary Medal "for service to Australian society through the sport of rugby league".

Arthur Beetson was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2003.

In February 2008, Arthur Beetson was named in a list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

Arthur Beetson went on to be named in the front-row in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century.

Arthur Beetson chose to boycott the presentation ceremony, stating that he did not agree with the direction rugby league is taking.

In 2008, rugby league in Australia's centenary year, Arthur Beetson was named at second-row forward in the Toowoomba and South West Team of the Century.

Arthur Beetson was made a life member of the Sydney Cricket Ground and a plaque in the Walk of Honour there commemorates his career.

Arthur Beetson is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia.

In 2009 Arthur Beetson was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

An inspiration and role model for his people, Arthur Beetson was resolute in his beliefs about the absolute need for young Indigenous Australians to be educated, to finish school and to be employed.

On 1 December 2011, Arthur Beetson died following a heart attack while riding his bicycle at Paradise Point on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

The Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh announced that a bronze statue of Arthur Beetson was to be situated at Lang Park.

The Arthur Beetson Foundation was created to engage the community "to empower Indigenous Australians to better outcomes in health, education, sport, employment and business development", and the Arthur Beetson Medal honours rugby league players who have distinguished themselves who have shown not only skill on the field but some of the qualities embodied by Beetson and cares deeply about their people.

Chairman of the SCG Trust heritage committee Maurice Newman said that Arthur Beetson "didn't make the cut" because he was a Queenslander, rejecting the assertion of it being a "snub" and questioned why there wasn't a grandstand named after Arthur Beetson in his home state at a venue such as Lang Park.

Rugby league commentator Ray Hadley criticised the decision after an attempted compromise with an offer put forward to have Arthur Beetson honoured with a statue instead of a grandstand.

Mark Arthur Beetson thanked The Daily Telegraph and its readers for lobbying for the change.