Leeds Rhinos news: former teammate pays tribute to 'Slamming' Sam Backo after Australian star's death at 64
Leeds Rhinos are mourning Australian powerhouse Sam Backo, who featured in one of the club’s most famous cup final wins.
Backo, who was 64, died in hospital in Cairns, Queensland, yesterday (Sunday), four months after being diagnosed with the tropical disease melioidosis. The former prop-forward starred for Leeds in the 1988-89 season and was a substitute in their Yorkshire Cup final victory against Castleford at Elland Road.
Despite his reputation as one of the world’s best front-rowers, Backo - known as ‘Slamming Sam’ - made 10 of his 18 appearances for Leeds off the bench. He came on with only eight minutes remaining to score a dramatic winning try, his only touchdown in England, when Leeds fought back from 8-0 down to beat Hull FC 12-8 in the semi-final at Headingley.
Colin Maskill packed down at hooker alongside Backo during the Aussie’s stint at Leeds and described his death as “very sad news”. Reflecting on the giant forward’s career in blue and amber, Maskill said: “At that time we had got Lee Crooks at eight and Hughie Waddell at 10 and, invariably, Sam would be on the bench.
“To be honest, he wasn’t particularly pleased to be on the bench, but he always came on and made a massive impact. My main memory of him is when he came off the bench against Hull in the Yorkshire Cup semi-final and scored under the sticks. It was a really tight game and we were behind, but we had a little play around the ruck and Sam came on to the ball and just scattered the Hull defenders. He was a big, big man.”
As fearsome as he was on the field, Backo was known as a gentle giant off it. Maskill, who had kept in touch with him through social media, added: “I wouldn’t say he was outgoing; he was a quiet kind of guy, but always had a smile on his face and was great to have around the dressing room. He was a real character.
“At the time we had him, Andrew Ettingshausen and Mark Brooke-Cowden, the ex-New Zealand All Black. They were high-quality [overseas] players coming into the comp’.”
Before joining Leeds, Backo made 115 appearances for Canberra Raiders from 1983-88, including their defeat by Manly in the 1987 Grand Final. He joined Brisbane Broncos in 1989, playing 20 times across two seasons before retiring because of a knee injury.
He represented Queensland seven times in State of Origin and made 11 appearances for Australia, six of them at Test level. Against Great Britain in 1988 he became only the second Australian to score a try in every game of a three-match Ashes series.
Backo was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and the following year was named in the nation’s indigenous team of the 20th century. He survived a heart attack in 2023, but is believed to have contracted melioidosis - which is caused by bacteria living in soil, mud and groundwater - while swimming in a freshwater creek in Cairns. An outbreak of the illness has claimed 35 lives in Queensland this year.