Former Kangaroo Beattie dies
Former Australian and Queensland rugby league representative Dud Beattie has died, aged 81.
The front rower, who played 15 Tests for his country and 19 matches for Queensland, died at his home on the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday, eight days shy of his 82nd birthday.
He toured Britain, France and Italy with the Kangaroos in 1959-60 and played in the 1960 World Cup in the UK.
He was most famous for an incident in his final Test in 1962 in which he was sent from the field after goading Britain's Derek Turne into a fight.
After suffering a dislocated shoulder and realising he could not go on, he was facing the prospect of leaving his team a man short because there were no interchanges allowed in that era.
Instead of doing that he started the fight with Turne to ensure they would both be sent off and both sides would have the same numbers.
After hanging up the boots, he served as a Queensland and Australian selector and was involved in the formation of the Ipswich Jets club in the 1980s.
"After he retired, he was a great contributor and stayed involved for many years as a representative selector," QRL chairman Peter Betros said.
"He was very easy to get on with, but he was always a straight-shooter. If you were going well as a player he told you, and if you weren't he would tell you that too."
