"JACK'S gone out in a big way," said Parramatta legend Ray Price. "Would you expect anything less?"

Jack Gibson, the Coach of the Century and the most influential in 100 years of rugby league, passed away last night, his long battle with dementia over. He was 79. And, of course, the five-times premiership winner kept his sense of occasion until the very end: his death came just 90 minutes before the Kangaroos played New Zealand in the Centenary Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

While Gibson had struggled in recent years to identify his family - both his immediate kin and that within the football community - because of his condition, it is understood his health had faded considerably in the past week.

He passed away at 6.32pm last night at the Garawarra Centre, Waterfall, surrounded by family.

"We are dealing as well as we can and would ask that Jack's many friends, in their sadness that he is no longer with us, do not feel too sorry," his wife, Judy, said in a statement. "Jack would not want that; it was his own strong belief and appreciation that he had a very fortunate life, and we know he would have wanted that to be the spirit of this time."

The Australian team were told of Gibson's death just before kick-off and wore black armbands as a mark of respect. A large crowd observed a minute's silence just before kick-off.

Gibson's right-hand man during much of his coaching career, Ron Massey, admitted he was struggling to come to terms with the news. "We all knew it was coming, but I'm in shock," said Massey, who often recalls how he once thought Gibson would never make it as a coach. "Looking at how he was, it is a relief - but it doesn't make it any easier. He was such a good mate."

Gibson was an uncompromising forward during his 152 first-grade games with Eastern Suburbs from 1953-1961, Newtown in 1962 and Western Suburbs before retiring in 1964.

He then embarked on a coaching career that revolutionised the game with techniques adopted from overseas and applied with his rare manner. In his first year of coaching in 1967, he elevated the Roosters to the semi-finals after they had not won a match the previous year.

After coaching St George and Newtown, he returned to guide Eastern Suburbs to premierships in 1974 and 1975. In 1981, he guided Parramatta to their first title and, afterwards, famously proclaimed to the crowd: "Ding dong, the witch is dead."

The Eels won another two and remain the last side to win three consecutive premierships. Eels great Peter Sterling, who played halfback for Gibson in Parramatta's unprecedented hat-trick, said last night the news of his former coach's death had left him "absolutely shattered".

"I guess we knew this night was coming … but it's very hard to digest," Sterling said. "Jack, he loved his players, he cared about his players. He made wonderful footballers, but he also made wonderful people, and I thank Jack Gibson eternally for being a part of my life, and I know I speak on behalf of every rugby league player and every rugby league supporter who was lucky enough to see Jack in action."

Only Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, who was a close friend of Gibson's and assistant coach of the Kiwis last night, has won more premierships.

"There is no superlative that does justice to his contribution to the game," Australian Rugby League chairman Colin Love said last night. "We pass on our deepest sympathies to [wife] Judy and to the Gibson family."

NRL chief executive David Gallop said every player and coach in the game had benefited from Gibson. "Jack's philosophy was to build the club from the front office to the playing field and to develop men, not just footballers," Gallop said. "He wrote the book for the modern coach, and he will be both celebrated and missed."

When the Herald visited Gibson last month on the morning he was named Coach of the Century, he retained his imposing aura despite his debilitating condition.

He is survived by Judy and children Sue, Tracey, Joanne, Matthew and John, who opened up about the other side of the supercoach. "He kept football and family separate," Sue said. "We never talked to him about footy. We'd say, 'Good luck, Dad.' And he'd say, 'Thanks kid.' We didn't talk football to him, and he didn't talk to us about it. He liked to take us out in the boat."

Judy recalled how floored her husband had been after a semi-final loss while coaching the Dragons in 1971. "He was devastated," she said. "He said, 'I can't believe that I've let them down so much.' That was the thing I remember the most. After that, I don't remember any of the losses."

Without question, the rugby league community will long mourn and remember the one it suffered last night.