Sattler joined the Gold Coast Seagulls as a junior from the Runaway Bay Seagulls junior club. He made his first grade debut for the club against the Parramatta Eels at the age of twenty. Sattler's first two years at the Gold Coast saw the club finish last on the table.
He joined the South Queensland Crushers in 1995. Sattler played in the club's first ever game, a 6-24 loss against reigning premiers the Canberra Raiders.
Gold Coast
He joined the club he began his career with, the Gold Coast Chargers, in 1997 for his second spell with the club. He played 24 games for the club in the 1997 ARL season as the Gold Coast qualified for the first time in their history. Sattler played in both of the club's finals matches. The following year would be the Gold Coast's last in the competition and Sattler played in their final ever game, a 18-20 loss against Cronulla-Sutherland.
Penrith
After his second spell with the Gold Coast club, Sattler moved to the Penrith Panthers in 1999. He was named as the first grade player of the year in 2001 after an impressive season personally despite Penrith finishing last on the table. He will perhaps be best remembered for the moment in the 2003 NRL Grand Final in which he played at and made one of the greatest tackles in rugby league grand final history. During a pivotal point in the match, Sattler made a try-saving tackle when he chased down and made a textbook tackle on the Sydney Roosters winger Todd Byrne to send him over the touchline during his clubs 18 points to 6 victory of the Roosters. A superb effort considering Sattler is a and Byrne is a winger. Reflecting on that tackle Sattler stated, "It was one tackle and when I was out on the field I didn’t really think about it being a turning point in the game. You just focus on each tackle as they happen and do what you need to do to get the job done." After the 2003 season, in which Sattler won his first ever premiership, he left the club to join the Wests Tigers due to salary cap restrictions. After it was announced that Sattler would be leaving the club he stated, "This is the perfect way to leave the club. I'm looking forward to going to Wests Tigers next year and playing a senior role."
Wests Tigers
Sattler joined the Wests Tigers in 2004 where he played one season for the club before retiring from rugby league. That year he was named captain. Also during that year, Sattler was named as the player of the tournament at the Wests Tigers 2004 World Sevens Championship victory. After his final year in rugby league, Sattler required a knee operation to undergo a cartilage graft. In total he played 203 first grade games for five different clubs. Sattler named his most respected opponents throughout his career as Tony Butterfield and Luke Ricketson.
In 2006, it was announced that Scott Sattler had signed for the Gold Coast Titans as the Football Manager for the club. Upon signing for the club, Sattler commented, "Having made my First Grade debut with the Gold Coast and playing all my junior football here I feel I have an emotional attachment to the club; an attachment that I want to make sure this team is one that is successful on and off the field. I have experienced the highs and lows of Rugby League and I feel I can draw on those experiences into assisting the mould we want at this club; a club the Gold Coast and Northern NSW community will embrace." Sattler resigned from his position as football manager with the Titans in January, 2008, citing the pursuit of other business interests as his reason.
