In the long history of rugby league, no one has ever brought more colour to the game than legendary French fullback Puig Aubert. Today, a giant bronze statue of the great man stands proudly outside Carcassonne’ s home ground, Stade Albert Domec- a fitting tribute to one of the sport’ s true characters.

March is a big month for birthdays in rugby league, with a host of topclass players from around the globe celebrating. That includes those who’ ve sadly passed on to the big footy field in the sky, past champions still with us, and current stars continuing to pull on the boots.

Among today’ s players marking March birthdays are Panthers coach Ivan Cleary and his premiership-winning forward

Liam Martin, Cowboys playmaker Tom Dearden, Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton, Broncos veteran Ben Hunt, and Newcastle superstar Kalyn Ponga.

Greats of the past still with us include Aussie legends Ray Price, Greg Alexander, Eric Grothe, Tim Brasher, Darren Lockyer and Wayne Pearce, alongside Great Britain standouts John Mantle, Gus Risman, Lee Jackson and Gareth Widdop.

Of course, the list of champion players who have left us stretches back to the birth of the game in England in 1895 and Australia in 1908- far too many to name here. But those who passed away in March since WWII include immortal winger Ken Irvine, inspirational skipper Ian Walsh, Ken Madison, Ron Saddler, British champions Gus Risman and Brian

Edgar, Kiwi enforcer Henry Tatana, and

France’ s mercurial fullback Puig Aubert. Aubert- what a character. Born Robert Puig Aubert on March 24, 1925, he ignored his Christian name and became simply Puig. Nicknamed“ Pipette” by his teammates due to his chain-smoking habit, he was one of the game’ s most colourful and gifted players. He passed away on June 3, 1994, aged just 69.

Despite standing only 167cm tall and weighing 60kg, Aubert was a giant of the post-war era. His career began with Carcassonne in 1944 and lasted until his retirement in 1960. He represented France in 46 Tests, scoring 351 points- most of them from his deadly accurate boot.

One of his greatest achievements came as captain of France’ s famous 1951 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played in 26 of 29 matches and scored a remarkable 221 points, including eight tries and 106 goals- a record at the time.

Six years after his death, Carcassonne honoured their favourite son with a 300kg, 1.7-metre bronze statue, ensuring his legacy lives on.

Aubert’ s brilliance was matched only by his personality. A genius in attack, he famously dismissed defence with a shrug, declaring:“ It is not the fullback’ s job to tackle- those in front of him should be doing that.”

His antics became legendary. He was often seen with a cigarette dangling

from his lips, was known to enjoy a glass or three of red wine at half-time, and occasionally left handwritten poems on the field after scoring tries- much to the frustration of opponents.

Despite his quirks, he was universally respected, including by Australian great Keith Holman. During the 1951 Test series, Aubert landed an astonishing 18 goals from 18 attempts.

“ I’ ve never seen his equal- terrific player and a terrific gentleman,” Holman said.“ As a goalkicker he had no equal, and no one since can compare.

“ One day at the SCG, I saw him place the ball near the corner post and bend it between the uprights. I’ ve never seen anything like it before or since.”

After retiring, Aubert worked promoting the famous French pastis Ricard and remained involved in the game, coaching juniors and serving as chairman of the French national selection committee for a decade. In 1988, he was inducted as one of the inaugural members of the French Rugby League Hall of Fame.

SAD MARKS: Crikey, wouldn’ t you have loved to be at the SCG that day? Pure magic from one of rugby league’ s greatest showmen.

Statue of Aubert