Neil Betts played three Tests for the Wallabies and a record 45 matches for Queensland as a bullocking front-rower but none compared to the day his beloved Souths club won the Brisbane rugby union premiership in 1958.

Betts, awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), still lives near the Magpies club which he helped establish in 1948 and served, in one way or another, for 40-odd years.

The '58 premiership came two seasons after the tight-head prop, nicknamed 'Tiny', finished his long representative career but he firmly regards the grand final win his best moment in the sport.

"I loved the club football, I loved the camaraderie," Betts said.

Betts also served as treasurer and president through the tough times for traditional battlers Souths who eventually became the strongest club in the country in the 1990s when Wallabies centres Tim Horan and Jason Little were in the side.

When he finished playing for Queensland, Betts was the most capped state player with 45 games under his belt.

Today, in a contrasting professional era, the Reds most capped player, Sean Hardman, has 137 games notched up.

The 83-year-old Betts still attends home games at Souths' Chipsy Wood Oval which he helped build in 1966.

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