Stuart Raper

Son of St George legend John Raper played for Cronulla, St George (lower grades) and Wests during his career, as well as with Oldham in England in 1986-87. Stuart Raper later captain-coached Eden to premiership honours in 1992 before returning to Cronulla in 1994 and coaching the Sharks’ President's Cup team to grand final victory. Raper made it two premierships in three years after Cronulla’s win in the reserve grade grand final in 1996. After starting with the club at the beginning of 1997’s Super League season, he went to England to pursue his coaching career. After several seasons with Castleford, 2002 saw him at the helm of glamour club Wigan. Raper returned to Australia at the end of 2003 and took over as Sharks coach following the sacking of Chris Anderson. Raper’s time at the club was certainly a roller-coaster ride – the Sharks showed good early form in 2004 before fading; qualified for the finals in 2005 and then lost a club record ten straight games at the end of 2006. Raper was replaced by another sacked coach, the Roosters’ Ricky Stuart, for the 2007 season.