John Wittenberg was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player. He was a front-row forward with the St. George Dragons

St. George Dragons

The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

. He was a representative in the Australian national team in 1966 and from 1968 to 1970 earning 6 test caps.

Wittenberg was from Wide Bay, Queensland and played for Toowoomba, the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls

Wynnum-Manly Seagulls

The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, which is in the Eastern Brisbane suburb of Manly West. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since 1996 they have competed in the Queensland Cup. Their jersey is red, green and white...

 and in the Central Queensland town of Theodore

Theodore, Queensland

Theodore is a town in Queensland, Australia, situated on the Dawson River. The town - like the Canberra suburb - is named in honour of Labor politician Ted Theodore, Premier of Queensland and Treasurer of Australia in the ministry of Prime Minister James Scullin...

 in the early and mid sixties from which clubs he represented for Queensland and Australia. The Queensland Rugby League

Queensland Rugby League

The Queensland Rugby Football League is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League and selects the members of Queensland State of Origin teams....

 attempted to block his transfer to Sydney in 1967 forcing him to sit out the 1967 season and causing him to miss selection for the 1967 Kangaroo Tour.

He played 53 games for St George from 1968 to 1970 representing for New South Wales

New South Wales Rugby League team

The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

  and regaining Australian representative selection during that time. Four of his representative caps were at the 1968 World Cup

Rugby League World Cup

The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...

 played in Sydney including the World Cup Final victory against France in June 1968.

He died of a heart attack while working on his farming property in Burren Junction west of Wee Waa, New South Wales

Wee Waa, New South Wales

Wee Waa is a town with a population of 1,689 people located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is 41 m north-west of Narrabri and 571  km...

 aged 67.

Sources

• St George Dragons Player History Website http://www.showroom.com.au/dragons/dragonshistory
• Andrews, Malcom (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au