Raiders legend Laurie "Lozza" Daley was back in the Canberra region this week, stopping in to Walsh's Hotel in Queanbeyan to broadcast his Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast program.
Now living in Sydney, the boy from Junee who played 244 games for the Raiders, Daley was on a regional tour, promoting The Kosciuszko, the world's richest race for country-trained horses, which will be run at Royal Randwick on October 15 and broadcasting from different towns. While in Queanbeyan, he had guests including local horse trainer Frank Cleary and Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker on the show.
"It's been really positive," Daley said, of the country tour. "People have been great - it's been really well-received."
The visit by the Green Machine icon coincided with the Raiders' mourning their chairman Dr Allan Hawke who passed away this week.
Daley, 52, who retired in 2000, wasn't playing when Dr Hawke was first appointed to the board in 2002 but always found him to be a friendly presence around the club.
"He's been a part of the club for a long time and there will be a lot of people who are very sad today and especially his family, because he was a wonderful fella," Daley said.
"You're in town, you're going to a game, he'd always come up and say 'G'day' and have a chat. He was very welcoming of you being back there.
"It's never nice when someone passes away but we can celebrate his life and all the wonderful things he's done. And the contribution he's made to the Raiders has been massive."
Daley, meanwhile, said life post-footy was going well.
"It's great, all my kids are older, they've all grown up very quick," he said.
"We're all good and where I am in terms with work, I've been on the radio for five years and work with a good bunch of people. It's good when you can do a bit of travelling with your work as well. You see people you haven't seen for a few years and catch up and reminisce."
