THE TAMBORINE Mountain Bushrats are mourning one of their own, following the passing of Sam “Slammin’ Sam” Backo – a State of Origin star who never forgot the little club where he found one of his greatest joys.
Backo, who died on August 3, played two seasons with the Bushrats in the mid-1990s, but his influence is still spoken about nearly 30 years later.
In 1996, he helped guide the side to a premiership before returning the following year as player-coach.
Former coach Glenn Ivers said Backo’s presence lifted the club and inspired those around him.
“Mate, he was well retired. He played with bodgy knees and used to use horse liniment just to get them right to play,” Glenn said.
“But he still came out there in short bursts and just busted them. He scored the first try in the grand final and made a try-saving tackle late in the game. He had a big impact.”
Sam himself once described the Bushrats premiership as the highlight of his decorated rugby league career, telling Rugby League Week that winning alongside the mountain club topped all of his representative achievements.
For Glenn, it was Sam’s attitude off the field that left a lasting mark.
“He just loved the family side of the little club,” Ivers said.
“He told me it was one of the biggest joys of his rugby league life to see how that community embraced that side. He loved seeing how happy the boys were.”
The Bushrats premiership may have been his proudest moment, but Sam’s career stretched far beyond the mountain.
Between 1983 and 1990, he played 135 first grade games for the Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos, featured in Canberra’s first ever grand final in 1987, and earned man of the match honours in back-to-back State of Origin games in 1988.
He also represented Australia six times and was named in the Indigenous Team of the Century in 2001.
Despite those accolades, Glenn said Sam’s time with Tamborine Mountain showed his true character.
“It was important for the younger boys to play alongside someone like Sam, but he was more just a mate to those fellas,” he said.
“He was a family man. He just loved that Bushrat spirit.”
Hundreds gathered at St Patrick’s Church in Ingham on 22 August, including Glenn Ivers, to farewell a man who was feared on the field but loved off it.
For the Bushrats, Sam Backo will always be remembered not just as a giant of the game, but as one of their own – a man who gave everything for the mountain club in the twilight of his career and found joy in the heart of the community.
