This week we catch up with former Raiders hooker Glen Buttriss who played for the club from 2008 - 2015. During his time with the Raiders, Buttriss scored seven tries before going on to play for the Mounties in the Intrust Super Premiership.
Buttriss will continue playing this year as he prepares to captain-coach his hometown club, the Cootamundra Bulldogs.
Glen Buttriss
Canberra Raider #277
Appearances 119
What do you do for work now?
I work at Melba Copland Secondary School and College doing some youth work there.
What’s your favourite memory as a Raider?
It would have to be the 2012 semifinal against Cronulla at home. We played in front of that packed stadium and we got the win, it was awesome. I scored a try that day and I didn’t normally score that many, I scored seven in 119 games!
Another thing I remember was that Josh Papalii had a blinder of a game and he stuck it to Paul Gallen that day. You could say that he went a long way to winning us the game.
What did it mean to you, to wear the Raiders jersey?
It meant a lot. As a kid I grew up in Cootamundra wanting to play NRL and then to represent Canberra, the closest team to the Riverina, it was a dream come true.
Just to wear the green jersey was awesome. It was the best feeling running out there every week playing in front of the home fans. It was especially good when you got a win.
Who was your favourite teammate?
Gee that’s a tough one! I’ve met a lot of good blokes along the way. Joel Thompson would probably have to be my favourite teammate. He’s just a character, he’s always enjoyable to be around. There was never a dull moment when he was around.
I have a lot of good mates that have come from the Raiders such as past players Troy Thompson, Josh Miller, Terry Campese and current players like Jack Wighton, Jarrod Croker and Josh Papalii. I have a lot of good mates that have come out of footy and I could list another 20. Dane Tilse is another of my good mates.
Do you keep in touch with any of your former teammates?
Yeah, we actually caught up the other week because Josh Miller’s partner just had a baby. We had a wet the baby’s head for him in Wollongong so it was awesome. I caught up with Terry Campese and Joel Monaghan and we went down together and met up with Josh Miller, Dane Tilse and a couple of others.
We don’t catch up as often as we used to but we try to catch up at least three or four times a year. They are good times when we do catch up.
What was your funniest moment as a Raider?
Joel Thompson and I played a few tricks on Dane Tilse. We sent him out on a couple of blind dates but the date wasn’t there.
We went on Facebook and started messaging him saying we were a girl from Newcastle because he was from there. We said we were going to university down in Canberra and it would be good to catch up.
Anyway, the next night we got him to meet us down at Ha Ha Bar and big Dane has gotten dressed up in his best kit and had a couple of beers to get his confidence up. Joel and I were hiding in the car park watching him walk into the bar. There was no date for him. It was hilarious!
He didn’t know it was us so we didn’t tell him for about three or four days. He wasn’t a happy man when he found out. All the boys thought it was funny though.
Do you have advice for any younger players?
They probably hear this a lot but when you get your opportunity make the most of it because it’s not too often that you get a second bite at the cherry.
