Beetson a man for his time

In the process, Arthur Henry Beetson inspired generations of indigenous people to strive for excellence on their chosen turf.

Beetson, 66, died yesterday on the Gold Coast after suffering a heart attack. Current and former players, rugby league officials, political leaders and other indigenous trailblazers queued up to pay tribute to “Big Artie."

Among them was Warren Mundine - Labor's former national president and the first indigenous person elected to that role.

Mr Mundine, who went on to count the rugby league great as a friend, said Beetson was one of several indigenous sportsmen who were an inspiration.

“We were just gob smacked to see those champions out there," he said.

“Up until that stage there was only a handful of Aboriginal players in the Sydney competition ... and he was an icon.

“It was amazing to see an Aboriginal person from a small country town achieve what he achieved."

Beetson emerged at a “revolutionary time".

Inspired by the US civil rights movement where freedom riders travelled on buses into the heart of the South to protest segregation, Charles Perkins set off with other Aboriginal activists on a bus on February 12, 1965, to protest against racial discrimination in rural NSW towns.

In a referendum two years later, more than 90 per cent of voters supported changing the constitution to allow the Commonwealth to make laws specifically for Indigenous people and remove barriers to counting them in the Census.

Mr Mundine said it was a “tremendous, exciting" time.

Beetson was the first indigenous person to captain a national sporting team and proved he was a “great survivor".

“I remember as a young child going to the old Sydney Cricket Ground, standing on the hill. In those days, the beer cans used to be made out of steel so we stood on the beer cans and watched the game. The ground was packed and … the English actually won a Test series," Mr Mundine said.

“I remember him playing that game and he actually got sent off. We lost the Test series and everyone the next day in the newspapers said 'that's the end of his career' – that was in 1970."

Mr Mundine admired Beetson's tenacity, saying he was written off so many times but continued to defy the critics.

“To see a bloke like Artie coming down from Queensland out of Roma, to the city and making a name for himself and build such a legendary career - he had more comebacks than Dame Nellie Melba – was just amazing. We all just loved him," he said.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Mick Gooda, who hails from central Queensland, said Beetson was a role model to many.

“Here's an Aboriginal man doing something really special. He captained Australia. He captained Queensland. He was an inspiration to that whole two generations of Aboriginal people growing up in both Queensland and NSW," Mr Gooda said.

One of them was Sam Watson, who is now Queensland chairman of Link Up – an organisation that supports members of the Stolen Generations.

Beetson set the standard by the way he played the game.

“He was hard, uncompromising," Mr Watson said.

“He had a wicked sense of humour. And, I think for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, I think the proudest moment we had during Artie's career was when he led the first State of Origin team on to Lang Park.

“He had enormous courage and he was the first bloke to take the ball up and he never took a backward step."

Rugby league was a natural fit for Beetson, according to Mr Watson, because it was the workers' game.

“Artie was always working class. He never put on airs [and graces]. He's just a battler from the bush really," he said.

Mr Watson said Beetson was a role model because he reached the highest level of the game but remained untainted by the scandals that engulf some players in the modern game.

Beetson would be remembered for his longevity in the game, according to Mr Mundine.

“He was a bloke in his mid 30s who was made captain of the Queensland team, first State of Origin and through his actions in that game created the legend of State of Origin," Mr Mundine said.

“I have no doubt he'll be remembered as a legend of the game and also the man who created the atmosphere of the State of Origin, going out on that field than smacking Mick Cronin. Teammate against teammate and that built the legend.

“If it wasn't for him, I doubt the State of Origin would be what it is today."

Mr Mundine described Beetson as an “incredible bloke", saying he was “as large in life as he was in his physical size”.

“We're just lucky I suppose that he lived as long as he did because he was a very big man," he said.

Mr Watson recalled an attempt to help the sporting great slim down.

“At one time apparently, a club put him on a diet to try to get his weight down but he used to keep this esky full of pies. He used to be able to eat 10 pies at a sitting no worries at all ... then run on and play a full game," Mr Watson said.

Beetson's sudden death was a sad reminder that indigenous Australians typically die 17 years earlier than their non-indigenous counterparts, Mr Gooda said.

“It's a reminder we can do without really that someone as young as him dies," he said.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, who is a leading advocate to close that life-expectancy gap, was personally inspired by Beetson.

“I don't think I was such a flash footballer but just to see him getting out there, doing the things and speaking for us and identifying as an Aboriginal person was so important for me to say 'well OK he can do it, we can do it'," he said.

“And then I got to know him later in life so it's a bit sad for all of us."

Mr Gooda described Beetson as a “funny bloke" who was "full of stories".

“He'll be remembered in a couple of ways - one as a footballer and he's already ... one of the seven immortals," he said.

“But then he'll be remembered as this role model, this inspiration for Aboriginal people and he helped breakdown a lot of stereotypes about us.

“He's going to leave a fairly big gap, not only in rugby league terms but in the Aboriginal community."