sport news Former Bulldogs NRL star Sandy Campbell is now homeless and receiving treatment ... trends now Former rugby league star Sandy Campbell is living rough on the Gold Coast as he battles throat cancer, it has been revealed. Campbell was a rare breed as a flashy winger and pin-up boy for sports magazines in the 1980s - including appearing on the cover the now-defunct Rugby League Week emulating Michael Jackson from his BAD album. The Bulldogs winger earned the nickname 'Dancing Sandy from Samarai' after the island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, where he hails from. Campbell starred on the wing for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 1980s before moving to the Roosters and South Sydney in the '90s On the field, he dazzled crowds with his speed and turn of foot. Off it, he dazzled the ladies with his movie star looks and sense of style that was foreign to rugby league at the time. Sadly, Dancin' Sandy is another former rugby league great who has fallen through the cracks - and now there is a push on to save him. Campbell was discovered by News Corp living under a Coolangatta surf club on the beach, all of his worldy possessions stuffed into a shopping trolley. That includes a chemotherapy infusion pump he needs to use around the clock to treat throat cancer. Sandy Campbell's playing career 1986–88: Canterbury-Bankstown: 50 games, 11 tries, 88 games across all grades 1989–90: Eastern Suburbs: 24 games, 12 tries 1991: South Sydney: 19 games, 12 tries Advertisement He is estranged from his wife and twin daughters. The good looks have long vanished. The dreadlocks he grew after retirement are gone, so are many of his teeth, and face tattoos render him almost unrecognisable. He is just 56. However, now that he has been discovered, Family of League - formerly Men of League - is moving in to help. 'It's been sad - he was fine until a year or so ago when things fell apart,' former teammate Kurt Landers told Wide World of Sports. 'I am determined to help him out and so have plenty of other guys who played with and against him. 'I'm going up to the Gold Coast soon to check in on him and we are looking to set up a GoFundMe page to help him. 'Hopefully the fans who he gave a lot of joy to can pitch in. 'I've spoken to Family of League and they have also promised to do something.' It has been a tragic decline for the former poster boy, who also played for the Roosters and Souths before his career ended prematurely in 1991. He was rumoured to have been involved in early Western Reds squads for their admission to the ARL in 1995, but never played a game for the Perth franchise. Family of League is an organisation formed to assist members of the rugby league community in accessing financial, social and emotional support. It changed its name from Men of League to reflect the broader support offered to families of former players and also those in the NRLW ranks. Campbell's good friend Darren Smith told News Corp that it had been a tragic decline for the former Bulldogs star. 'He's got nothing and he has just been diagnosed with throat cancer,' he said. 'He just started treatment but has got nowhere to stay, nowhere to go and no help. 'At the moment he is sleeping on the beach underneath one of the surf clubs at Coolangatta. I don't even know how to help him. What do I do? I was going to start a GoFundMe page to try and help him out. 'No one can give him accommodation and he's got no money. There's no housing anywhere, he's got cancer and he's walking around with chemo treatment being pumped into him while pushing his trolley. 'He has a pump which is attached to him 24-7 as part of his treatment. I have helped him out many times. He slept in my office for many years because he had nowhere to go, but I sold that business and don't have that office anymore. 'It makes it even harder because he is sick. To have a bed to sleep in would be everything for him. It's very sad. 'I saw him the other day and thought: 'What the f …, are you serious?' Look at him, he's connected up to this [medical] sh*t and pushing his trolley – how do you help?' 'Sandy used to work for me on the door and we became close friends,' said another friend, Nunzio La Bianca. 'He was constantly lounge-hopping. He's been doing it, realistically, since he left footy. There was no regular money coming in. Campbell was one of footy's poster boys in his heyday. Now the game is rallying to help him 'Sandman' stayed at my house off and on for years and at Darren's house off and on. He has found himself on the streets. If you see him, can you help him out financially or a place to live? He's a legend of the game. 'We don't know where to find him – he's homeless. He just got on the wrong side of life. He was a monster when he was playing – he was a good-lookin' boy.' 'Being a young player, and given all that money, how the hell was he to know what to do with it? He's always in good spirits and always has a smile on his face. Nothing ever seems wrong. He doesn't let it in.' All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility