23 February 2009

Raiders era ends with the passing of Les McIntyre.

| johnboy
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The ABC brings word that the Canberra Raiders founder Les McIntyre has died in his Queanbeyan home aged 93.

    “Les was a hugely influential figure for Canberra,” NRL chief executive David Gallop said in a statement.

    “He is one of those people who helped broaden the game’s outlook to include new areas and who would ultimately see his club as the first to take the premiership out of Sydney.”

His son John is still the chair of the club.

UPDATE: Andrew Barr’s tribute is now online.

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Such sad news 🙁
He’s built a great legacy at the Raiders, without him Canberra Raiders wouldn’t exsist. He’s touched me, and I’m as far away as the UK!
My condolences go to the McIntrye family.

R.I.P Les

old canberran6:14 pm 22 Feb 09

93 is a good innings. My condolences to John who I went to school with way back then. Old Les was known for many things and one of his smartest moves was founding the Queanbeyan Leagues club long before Canberra got pokies. We all used to troop over the border to play these new fangled machines and go home broke. Then there was the fire and Les had a brainwave and erected a huge tent across the road with bars, pokies and food while the club was being rebuilt.

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