Raiders boss Don Furner was looking out the corner of his eye for a golf putter.

Not because he’d lost a club, mind you.

Because he thought great mate Ricky Stuart was every chance of clobbering him with one.

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The background to the story centres around Raiders milestone man Big Papa Josh Papali’i.

A player who bleeds green as much as any of the Green Machine champions dating back to 1987.

On Monday at the plush Royal Canberra Golf Club Furner was saluting Big Papa being poised to break Jason Croker’s record of 318 games to become the most-capped Raider of all time.

As the Raiders boss was talking he pointed to the putting green outside the main function room.

Stay with us here. This was the same spot where Furner had to front Stuart 12 years earlier to tell him Big Papa was reneging on a three-year deal to join the Parramatta Eels.

Prior to making a grand final with the Raiders in 2019 and becoming Canberra’s longest-serving coach Sticky had one season with the Eels in 2013.

And he’d convinced Big Papa to come and join him in 2014.

So with Stuart preparing to host the Ricky Stuart Golf Day, Furner had to break the news about orchestrating the keep Big Papa coup.

Which didn’t go down particularly strong.

“I remember having to front Rick and tell him Papa was staying with the Raiders,” Furner said.

“It was a short conversation. Rick was preparing to host his golf day with 200 people and I had to go over and tell him Papa had back-flipped.

“For the rest of the day I was worried there was every chance of getting hit in the head with a golf putter.

“I would have liked to watch Rick tee off on the first hole because – I reckon he would have been hammering them off the tee.

“As it turned out Rick ended up agreeing to return home to coach the Raiders in 2014 so it all worked out.”

Raiders coach Stuart has a slightly different recollection.

“The only thing I was wishing was Don’s group was playing in front of us so I could have teed off at him,” Stuart joked.

“He even got a Raiders board member to play in my group to see if I was making phone calls.

“So much for being best friends.”

Big Papa has been a cornerstone of the Raiders forward pack for the best part of 15 seasons since debuting as a destructive edge backrower.

Back then Papali’i quickly made a name for himself by taking on the likes of NSW and Kangaroos enforcer Paul Gallen.

Playing in a semi-final, Gallen accused Papali’i of a “dog shot” and it ended with the two talking about putting on the boxing gloves.

The feud was short-lived with the pair selected to play for Australia on the 2013 Kangaroo Tour and becoming great mates.

On Sunday on Fox League Big Papa will go past “Toots” Croker when the Raiders host South Sydney in what should be close to a sellout in Canberra.

On one of his first days coaching at the Raiders in early 2014 Stuart made a beeline for Furner to talk about Big Papa.

“Geez I’m glad you got him to flip,” Stuart said.

Papali’i is a Green Machine fan favourite because as tough as he plays on the field is as big as his heart is off-the-field.

Always the last to leave the playing surface, Big Papa’s got time for everyone from sick kids to rusted-on Raiders fans.

Go through all the champion Raiders players from Mal Meninga, Stuart, Laurie Daley, Glenn Lazarus, Bradley Clyde, Gary Belcher, Chicka Ferguson, Dave Furner, Brett Mullins, Ruben Wiki and Jason Croker to the modern generation of Joe Tapine, Jack Wighton and Jarrod Croker.

Big Papa has earned the right to sit on par with all the greats through the way he’s bled green for 15 seasons.