A 94-year-old Queanbeyan immigrant is the oldest living Canberra Raiders fan, The Public Apology can confirm.
Hakka “Harry” Ibravovic, who was a sprightly 62-year-old when the Raiders first entered the competition in 1982, told TPA that his love for the Green Machine came upon settling in the nation’s capital.
“I left Yugoslavia in 1980, just as ethnic tensions were rising after President Tito’s death – with just a few dinars to my name. And like most immigrant slavs, I quickly developed a unshakeable passion for rugby league. However, I didn’t feel that any of the existing NSWRL clubs were right for me,” he explained.
“When I heard that a Canberra team was in the mix – I sensed the opportunity to join a brand new club from day one. Symbolically, I guess I saw the Raiders as representative of ‘new beginnings’ – a perfect fit for an Eastern European immigrant who was making a new life in Australia.”
However, when asked what he thought of the haphazard Raiders now, Ibravovic replied in perfectly accented Australian English that “they’re a bunch of shit c*nts.”
By staff writers