Jon Mannah has been called the gentle giant by Fairfax journalist Michael Chammas. A fitting-tribute to the young rugby pro player, who succumbed to his three-and-a-half-years of fight against cancer on Thursday.

The Parramatta Eels player was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2009 and yet he remained prayerful and tough even outside the rugby arena to fight his disease. Journalist Daniel Lane recalled how Mannah told him about his faith that helped him through.

"Religion was important to Johnny and it obviously helped sustain him through a terrible battle. Indeed, he made a point of declaring his devotion to a higher being while still dressed in his battle colours," Lane said in a Sydney Morning Herald.

It has been a tough fight, but never once did the Jon surrender easily. Even after his diagnosis, The Border Mail reports that he fought and trained hard to regain fitness to qualify for the Guildford junior.

What's more, Cronulla saw him in 12 games in 2011, before he stepped back into Paramatta so he could play in the same team as his brother Tim.

The good fight came to an abrupt halt as the cancer relapsed in March last year, before the brothers could play NRL together, according to Fox Sports.

"Even me, he never stopped surprising me with how tough he was. Obviously on the footy side of things, you had to be tough to do what he did, and to see how hard he trained at Parramatta for three months with really bad cancer... he pretty much had a hole in his intestines... and to see how well he trained spun me out," said Tim in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

In a statement made to ABC by Shane Mattiske, the NRL interim chief, "Jon's courage and determination has been a source of inspiration for everyone in rugby league."

News of Jon's death has reached several fans and the rugby community, and many have expressed their condolences and support via Twitter.

Though one of the greats of the game may have passed on, this does not mean that his legacy won't last longer. For fans of the Paramatta fighter, his struggle and success are what makes him live forever.