‘You won’t make 40’: How Johnny Raper defied legend’s dire warning

The problem with time is you think you’ve got more of it than you do.

According to the legendary broadcaster Frank Hyde, future rugby league Immortal Johnny Raper wouldn’t have much time left if he kept living as he was.

On the 1967-68 Kangaroo tour of the UK and France, the players were draining a few beers after dinner, chatting about the longevity of footballers.

“John, if you keep living like you do, you won’t make 40,” Hyde said out of nowhere.

The players looked at each other — then roared with laughter.

“I’ll outlive you, Frank!” Raper chuckled in reply.

Raper outlived most of his contemporaries, finally succumbing on Wednesday morning to the dementia that’s confined him to a nursing home for the past five years. He was 82, more than double Hyde’s prediction.

Hyde, who passed away in 2007 aged 91, considered Raper “the finest footballer I’ve seen” and was part of the panel that in 1981 made him one of the original Immortals alongside St George teammate Reg Gasnier, Manly’s Bob Fulton and Souths icon Clive Churchill.

Ranking great players is impossible. They’re all special in their own way. But ask the truly great players who they thought was the greatest and they rarely hesitate.

“I’ve spoken to the guys in the Immortals about who they thought was the best ever, and they arrive at a decision very quickly: Johnny Raper,” fellow Immortal Wally Lewis told Nine.

Like generations of Dragons fans, I was too young to watch Raper play. I can only read about him, talk to those who played with and against him, and peer at grainy footage.

Watch the video of the famous 1963 grand final in the slop at the SCG and two players stand out: Gasnier dancing along the top of the mud — and Raper cutting opposition players in half or hunting them down in cover defence.

Raper’s feats off the field are as celebrated as those on it. The 1967 tour on which Hyde made his remark is regarded as one of the booziest in history. It’s when Raper allegedly ran the streets of Ilkley in West Yorkshire wearing nothing but a bowler hat and a smile.

Some of his former teammates reckoned the legend has been overblown. Others shake their heads, thankful there were no such things as mobile phones with cameras when he was bouncing around the bars, nightclubs and illegal casinos of Sydney.

They all agree, however, about his obsessiveness at training. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave. And if he did turn up with a hangover, he made a point of leading the pack as they ran around the oval, his teammates gagging on the fumes of the previous evening.

COVID-19 prevented them from visiting Raper in his nursing home over the past two years, but before that he’d told some of them he was determined about coming home at some point.

Sadly, it never happened. Time eventually catches up with all of us. Raper seemed to understand the best way to beat it was to enjoy every minute.

When he and the first four Immortals gathered on the SCG in 1981 for a special presentation, they were each presented with a boxed set of vintage port.

As the other three sipped from their glasses, Raper knocked down his in one gulp and quickly found the waitress.

“Got any more?”

CA to blame for Langer mess, not Cummins

Australian captain Pat Cummins has come under heavy fire following coach Justin Langer‘s messy exit but surely the fat fingers of blame should be pointed at the gutless souls running Cricket Australia.

They threw captain Tim Paine under the bus on the eve of the Ashes, prompting him to resign. And now they’ve done the same to Langer, prompting him to fall on his sword after offering him a six-month contract.

CA knew in August, after a review of players and staff, that Langer’s time was up.

Instead of having the difficult conversation then about managing his exit in a dignified matter — say, at the end of a successful Ashes campaign — bumbling chief executive Nick Hockley and his weak-kneed board allowed the story to play out all summer.

It culminated in the comedic situation on Tuesday when CA director Mike Baird threw Hockley under the bus (saying this was all his doing) as Usman Khawaja threw Cummins under the bus (saying he needed to publicly explain himself) as selector George Bailey threw Langer himself under another bus (saying former players didn’t know the full picture of just how difficult life had become with Langer in the dressing-room).

Cummins has denied Langer was too “intense”. According to dressing-room sources, the adjective he was looking for was “volatile”. Langer’s mood swings wore down this current bunch.

Is this whole thing just a NSW-inspired hatchet job to ensure Trevor Bayliss gets the job? We’re assured the unhappiness with Langer crossed state lines.

Shaq’s got Latrell covered for talent

How good is Shaquai Mitchell? Let’s defer to Tony Barnes, the Roosters’ SG Ball coach who coached him and his younger brother Latrell.

“Shaq is more talented than Latrell,” Barnes told me in an interview about Latrell in the lead up to the 2018 grand final.

Barnes also drew comparisons with Immortal Arthur Beetson — no less — because of the young prop’s ability with both his feet and hands.

The problem, as Barnes pointed out, was Shaq’s weight. When he returned to training with the Roosters’ feeder team Wyong in early 2018, he stepped on the scales and was a whopping 150kg.

“He was in tears, I was in tears,” Barnes said. “He could be doing what Latrell is doing.“

Shaq, who is now in the South Sydney system, revealed he ballooned out to as much 175kg but is now 119kg.

On Saturday night, he will take the field for the Indigenous All Stars against the Maori All Stars at CommBank Stadium.

Straight outta Bondi Junction

Roosters supremo Nick Politis will make his Super Bowl debut on Monday morning AEDT when the LA Rams meet the Cincinnati Bengals in Los Angeles.

Politis will be sitting alongside board member Mark Fennessy, who has been attending the bucket-list event for years.

He was cruising the streets of Venice Beach earlier this week when he heard a voice call out from behind: “Hey, Nick!”

It was former captain Boyd Cordner, who like most of the Roosters is an NFL fanatic and can attend Super Bowl now he’s in retirement.

When I spoke to Politis this week, he wasn’t so much looking forward to the match as getting inside the $5 billion SoFi Stadium where the game will be played.

He was equally amped about the half-time show featuring Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar.

“Doctor who?” he asked.

No, not Doctor Who — Dr Dre.

“Yeah mate, I’m into all that stuff,” Politis said.

Uncle Nick in da house!

Whittaker blazing down comeback trail

UFC star Robert Whittaker has revealed how he retired from the sport after losing to Israel Adesanya in Melbourne two years ago.

The 31-year-old from Sydney’s west can reclaim the middleweight title in the rematch at Houston’s Toyota Centre on Sunday (AEDT).

“When I lost, I took a step to the left with zero intent on coming back,” he told this column. “I couldn’t work out if I enjoyed fighting if I had another fight scheduled in six months’ time. So I left the sport and went soul-seeking. I wanted to find out why I wasn’t enjoying the ride.”

A pay-for-view sensation, Whittaker has been rather philosophical in most of his interviews in the lead-up to the fight.

While Adesanya has talked trash, as he’s known to do, Whittaker has channelled his inner-Oprah. He’s talked about finding balance since suffering a second-round TKO loss to the Nigerian-born Kiwi at Marvel Stadium.

“I don’t try to sound like Oprah,” he says. “I’m trying to understand why I feel shit some days and good the others. If I take my work home, I’m not enjoying any other aspect of my life.”

Instead, he chills out with his four children, plays video games and reads fantasy novels.

THE QUOTE
“The most frustrating aspect for me was when people just read the headline, they don’t actually click on the article and make an actual observation for themselves.” — Thanasi Kokkinakis speaking to the ABC’s 7.30. Welcome to the jungle, baby.

THUMBS UP
Like most people, the cartilage in my knees scream like banshees when watching moguls skiing. But those imaginary screams were replaced with real screams of joy as Jakara Anthony won Australia’s first gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics in the event — and our first since 2010. That makes her a Jakara Anthony All Star.

THUMBS DOWN
Calling something “woke” has become the one-word, catch-all phrase that silly people use when they don’t agree with something. For some reason, Pat Cummins′ statement regarding Justin Langer has been branded by some as “woke”. Don’t use big four-letter words if you don’t know their meaning.

It’s a big weekend for … Mitchell Pearce, who makes his debut for Catalans Dragons against Super League powerhouse St Helens at Totally Wicked Stadium in the season opener on Friday morning (AEDT). There’s a bunch of former NRL players in both teams.

It’s an even bigger weekend for … Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals’ second-year quarterback trying to become the first to win the Heisman Trophy, a national title and Super Bowl ring. Google his media conferences. He’s a confident little cat. Bengal. Whatever.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.