Former Queensland Maroon and Canberra Raider, Sam Backo, has passed away at the age of 64. Backo, was a front rower for both Queensland and Australia in the 1980’s. Back in April of this year Backo was diagnosed with a bacterial infection and was admitted into intensive care at Cairns Hospital.
It’s been reported that Backo passed away on Sunday afternoon in the company of dear family and friends.
Backo had an extensive career in the game across many formats and teams. Backo played 114 games for the Canberra Raiders and then played a 20 games for Brisbane before moving overseas to play with Leeds in England. Most notably though Backo was a key character for seven state of origin games where he played for the Maroons and also playing in six Tests for Australia. When Backo was admitted to the hospital a few years back due to a heart attack former team mate Wally Lewis commented:
“He was such a dominant prop… When he came on, Sam just destroyed everyone that was in front of him. Sam was the size of a cement truck and he made the most of it… That dominating period for Sam, in the late 1980s, probably gave Queensland dominance in size for the first time.
