Stuart Raper is known to most as a prominent player, coach and also as son of league legend Johnny Raper. But less well known is his life as a singer and musician.
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“I sing and play drums... bit of a frontman,” Raper chuffed, shouldering fellow skip Alan Hillier at one end of the Gunnedah bowling green.
The former Castleford, Wigan and Cronulla coach-turned commentator was special guest at the recent Gunnedah Men of League (MOL) Charity Bowls Day.
“It’s nothing much,” he continued on his musical exploits, “ it’s just a bit of fun.
“We do some gigs around the shire.
“Damian Keogh, the Cronulla (Sharks) chairman is in it too... we’re a bit celebrity band.
“It’s good down time for us.”
Long after he last laced up the boots, Raper kept the ball, err bowl, rolling at the Gunnedah Bowls Club with ex-Cronulla prop and MOL welfare and education manager, Ben Ross.
It turns out the pair is a handy combination on the green too.
Given the ample practice both are exposed to with the MOL Foundation, they should be.
The Raper-Ross duo won the previous day’s Gunnedah Bulldogs bowls competition.
“We do a lot of bowls days, a lot of golf days and a lot of luncheons,” Raper grinned.
More seriously though, the pair was keen to stress the MOL message and the service the charity provides to the wider rugby league community who are doing it tough.
“Anyone who is struggling financially, or physically or whatever, we try to help,” he said.
“And it’s not just ex-footballers, we’re here to help football families as well.”
Son of legendary St George lock, Johnny Raper, Stuart now serves as MOL’s state manager and oversees 23 MOL committees in NSW, Perth and Melbourne.
"... I’ll keep my hand in coaching and maybe I’ll get back into it someday."
- Raper on his future coaching prospects
His steeped family history gave him a good grounding of what rugby league means to many Australians.
“My dad played, my uncles played, all my brothers played... that’s been good for me coming through that and understanding the rugby league family,” he said.
He also relished charity days outside the city limits like he experienced in Gunnedah.
“I love coming to places like this,” he said.
“This is our biggest area of all committees.
“No matter where we go, Dubbo, Cowra, Wagga, down to Eden and now up to Gunnedah... it’s the grassroots of rugby league and country league that is so important to the game.”
When he’s not travelling the country with MOL or bellowing ballards with his band, Shake n Bake, Raper is also maintaining his link to the coaching world.
“I still do a bit of coaching, junior league stuff and with Group 6 rugby league,” he said.
“(This month) I’m doing a bit of coaching with the South African rugby league team that’s coming over.”
Related story: "Busy retirement for ex-NRL player Ben Ross but no regrets"
Raper’s last coaching gig was with Cronulla from 2004-06 and while he did yearn for some aspects of his former life, there were some parts he’s glad to see the back of.
“I do miss the day-to-day stuff of being with players, the training, the preparation, the exhilaration of winning and the disappointment of losing,” he said.
“Those emotions I do miss.
“Then I see some of the things the coaches have to put up with, that’s when I know I don’t miss it.”
But he’s not ready to call its quits for good and left the door open for another full-time coaching stint down the track.
“I do miss it, so I’ll keep my hand in coaching and maybe I’ll get back into it someday,” Raper added.
League legend Ron Coote was also due to attend the Gunnedah bowls day but cancelled late due to “family reasons” a MOL spokeswoman said.
