Kiwi rugby league great Olsen Filipaina has died in Sydney, aged 64.
Last month, Filipaina was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Westmead Hospital, where he'd been battling kidney failure and lupus for the past 17 days.
Filipaina was initially diagnosed with a stomach infection, before specialists recognised his kidneys had deteriorated.
He passed away on Thursday afternoon.
Filipaina etched his name in NZ rugby league folklore by leading the Kiwis to victory over Great Britain and a highly vaunted Australia side led by the great Wally Lewis in 1985.
Affectionately known as 'The Big O', he played over 100 games in the NRL, predominantly for Balmain Tigers. He also had stints with Easts and Norths.
Of Samoan heritage, Filipaina also briefly represented Western Samoa, before hanging up his boots in 1990.
"When he put his mind to it, Olsen was unstoppable," former Balmain Tigers teammate Gary Jack tells Australia's Daily Telegraph. "Not too many get over the top of Wally [Lewis] but Olsen did that in 1985.
"Olsen was a very proud Kiwi. Once he pulled on that black and white jersey, my god, he became unstoppable. I've never seen a player transform the way he did when playing for his country.
"He was a very easy-going bloke, just a lovely bloke. I'm so sad."
He finished his career with 28 test caps and 50 games played overall for New Zealand.
Filipaina also played an unwitting part in a piece of Kiwi legend, when champion boxer David Tua appeared on the Wheel of Fortune TV game show and was heard to ask for an "O for awesome". Tua later claimed he actually said "O for Olsen", a reference to the league great.
