John Raper

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
John William Raper
Born
Wednesday, 12th April, 1939
Died
Wednesday, 9th February, 2022 (Aged 82 years and 303 days)

Awards & Accolades

Harry Sunderland Medal
1964
Clive Churchill Medal
1966
Immortal
1981
International Hall Of Fame
2002
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2002
NSWRL Hall Of Fame
2017

Known Family Links

Son
Aaron Raper
Stuart Raper
Brother
Ron Raper
Maurie Raper
Gerard Raper
Peter Raper

Biography

Rated the greatest lock forward the game has produced, there are some judges who rank the intractable Johnny Raper above Messenger and Churchill as the greatest player - if not the greatest personality – rugby league has seen. Raper tackled his love of the game, and his life off the football field, with equal intensity. A member of a noted footballing family that grew up in Revesby, author Gary Lester (Berries to Bulldogs, 1984) claims that the champion forward could have been in fact a C’bury junior. At 18, the budding champion was graded from the Newtown President's Cup team after being supplied with a false address by the club in order to get around the strict residential qualification laws at the time. Raper represented Sydney Colts against Great Britain in 1958 but his career went into overdrive with St George the following year. In a brilliant 1959 season Raper played for NSW, Australia in three Tests against NZ (making his Test debut at five-eighth) and toured with the Kangaroos in a year in which St George won the premiership undefeated (Raper played in the grand final against Manly as a centre). From 1959 to 1967 he made 33 Test appearances, toured with the Kangaroos three times (1959-60, 1963-64 & 1967-68) and appeared in two World Cup campaigns (1960 and 1968) - the latter as captain. (He still holds the record for Tests against France with 12 appearances). While Raper established a reputation as the game's finest cover-defender his attacking prowess was also sharp and intelligent. Frank Hyde rated his performance in the Second Test against Great Britain on the 1963-64 Kangaroo Tour – the 50-12 ‘Swinton Massacre’ that secured Australia the Ashes for the first time in England for over 50 years - as the greatest 80 minutes of football by any one player. But 'Chook' Raper did not just reserve his best for the Test arena; his efforts for St George during the 1960s were simply inspirational and marked him as the consummate team player. Raper played in eight grand final wins from 1959-66 and was also stand-in five-eighth for 'Poppa' Clay in 1962. Raper was one of the game's great characters and stories of his off-field antics have become legendary. Reports of misbehaviour on the 1967-68 Kangaroo Tour may have damaged a lesser player but Raper was able to turn the infamous 'Bowler Hat' incident (of which he was accused but not actually involved) to his own advantage - the bowler hat has become his signature. On his third Kangaroo tour he captained Australia to an 11-3 win in the Ashes-deciding Third Test at Swinton. In the absence of the injured Reg Gasnier, Raper also led Australia in the three-Test series loss against France - proving that Raper's brilliance alone could not carry an injury-riddled team. When a host of St George champions retired at the end of 1967, Raper took over as captain (and captain-coach in 1969) but the club was beaten in the finals in consecutive years. At age 30, Raper quit Sydney to take on a five-year contract as captain-coach of Newcastle Wests. While he captained both Country and NSW in 1970 he was not called into the Test series against Great Britain. Raper continued playing until 1972 (by which time he was playing for Kurri Kurri) but his time as coach of Cronulla (1975-76) ended disappointingly with his resignation midway through his second season. In 1978 he took over as caretaker coach of Newtown following the resignation of Paul Broughton (although he resisted the temptation to a make a comeback as a player at age 39!). Raper retained close ties with the code as an Australian selector and was impassioned in his support of the ARL during the turmoil of the Super League war. Other great locks have come and gone but quite simply, there has only been one Johnny Raper. He was, and is, in a class of his own. Autobiography: The Man in the Bowler Hat (1997).
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 215 57 -   4 179 160 51 4 74.42% List
Country Carnival 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Sydney Firsts 6 2 -   - 6 3 3 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches NSW Colts 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 9 - -   1 2 8 1 0 88.89% List
Interstate Matches 24 5 -   - 15 20 4 0 83.33% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 7 2 -   - 6 2 5 0 28.57% List
Tour Matches Australia 39 11 -   - 33 26 11 2 66.67% List
Test Series 33 9 -   - 24 20 11 2 60.61% List
NRL Finals 21 3 -   - 9 17 4 0 80.95% List
The Ashes 9 1 -   - 6 4 5 0 44.44% List
World Cup 6 2 -   - 6 6 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches St George Dragons 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Craven Mild Cup 28 5 -   - 15 20 6 2 71.43% List
Tour Matches Newcastle Firsts (AU) 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1959-60, 1962-64, 1966-68 40 11 -   - 33 27 11 2 67.50% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1959-1968 6 2 -   - 6 6 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Metropolis 1957 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Sydney Firsts 1958, 1960, 1962-64, 1966 6 2 -   - 6 3 3 0 50.00% List
NSW Colts 1958 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW City Seconds 1958, 1969 2 1 -   - 3 1 1 0 50.00% List
NSW Firsts 1959-68, 1970 32 7 -   - 21 23 9 0 71.88% List
NSW City Firsts 1959-60, 1963-68 8 - -   - - 8 0 0 100.00% List
Newcastle (AU) 1970 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1970 1 - -   1 2 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Country 1970 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1957-1970 53 10 0   1 32 36 17 0 67.92% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newtown NSWRFL 1957 16 4 -   - 12 8 8 0 50.00% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1958 19 6 -   - 18 10 9 0 52.63% List
St George NSWRFL 1959 15 6 -   - 18 15 0 0 100.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1960 17 9 -   - 27 15 2 0 88.24% List
St George NSWRFL 1961 11 2 -   - 6 10 1 0 90.91% List
St George NSWRFL 1962 10 1 -   - 3 8 2 0 80.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1963 17 4 -   - 12 16 1 0 94.12% List
St George NSWRFL 1964 15 6 -   - 18 13 2 0 86.67% List
St George NSWRFL 1965 15 4 -   - 12 13 2 0 86.67% List
St George NSWRFL 1966 16 7 -   - 21 13 2 1 81.25% List
St George NSWRFL 1967 20 3 -   3 15 13 6 1 65.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1968 21 2 -   - 6 12 7 2 57.14% List
St George NSWRFL 1969 23 3 -   1 11 14 9 0 60.87% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newtown 1957-58 35 10 -   - 30 18 17 0 51.43% List
St George 1959-69 180 47 -   4 149 142 34 4 78.89% List
Overall1957-1969 215 57 0   4 179 160 51 4 74.42% List

Your Say

  • Polyanna
    08/05/2012

    In the slower pace of the unlimited tackle era (pre-1967), in one game Raper made eight tackles in a row. He personified perpetual motion.
    Early in his career, he made sure that selectors were aware that he was a tacking machine by donning the distinctive headgear which made him easy to notice amongst a preponderance of bare-headed players on the field.

  • Anonymous
    24/07/2012

    Played his best footy at Newtown...

  • Neville
    27/10/2014

    Had the privilege to play with this legend in his last game of R.L. in the Newcastle district, Even though his best was behind him he still was head and shoulders above the Newcastle players. Johnny also has the same birth date as myself 12th April we are a few years apart in age but what he has forgotten about football others only wish they could attain.

  • John Forster
    06/07/2017

    John Raper was captain coach of Newcastle Western suburbs from 1970-1972. He then was player coach with Kurri Kurri 1973-1974.

  • John Forster
    06/08/2020

    After his Sydney career ended John Raper captain/coached Newcastle Wests from 1970 until 1972. From 1973 until 1974 he was captain/ coach of Kurri Kurri, where at the end of the season he retired.

  • Tim
    09/02/2022

    The great John Raper died today. He will never be forgotten.

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Contributions: Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Michael Borg