The 87-year-old had a connection with the local Canberra competition which spanned five-and-a-half decades, when he won ten premierships in 13 seasons as coach of the Queanbeyan Blues, in two stints split between 1965-69 and 1973-81.

Former Canberra Raider and current Blues captain-coach, Terry Campese, paid tribute to the elder Furner, whose sons he knows well.

"I was never directly involved with him [Furner snr], only through [Don jnr] and Dave [Furner's sons] at the Raiders," Campese said.

"He did a lot for rugby league with the Blues and the Raiders and was heavily involved with a lot of people that I played with.

"He was great for the game and definitely grew it in our region. He's left a legacy and it's very sad for all involved."

Furner snr was the first coach of the Canberra Raiders, a role to which he was appointed after developing a reputation as one of the game's shrewdest thinkers throughout the 1960s and 70s.

Born in Condoblin, Furner snr appeared for a number of clubs in his youth (including Souths, Roma, Junee and Queanbeyan), played eight matches for Queensland, and toured England with the Kangaroos in 1956-57.

Furner snr's last playing season began in 1964, when he appeared as a player-coach with Junee, before he gave up playing the next year due to injuries. It was then, in 1965, that his long tenure with the Queanbeyan Blues began.

Furner snr build a formidable coaching resume over the next 17 years, including his stunning run with the Blues and a two-year stint with the Eastern Suburbs Roosters which culminated in the 1972 premiership.

By 1982, Furner snr had established himself as a heavyweight of country league and played a key role in the Raiders' bid to enter the NSWRL.

Following the club's successful admission to the competition, Furner snr was then appointed the inaugural coach.

In a statement released earlier today, the Raiders said Furner snr's "wealth of experience as a coach in country football, together with his unmatched ability to spot raw talent, were invaluable in the Raiders' testing early years."

After only five years with the club (of which the last, 1987, was spent as co-coach alongside future great Wayne Bennett), Furner snr had taken the Raiders to a semi-final, a grand final, and laid the groundwork for the great Canberra sides of the 1990s.

The Furner name has been carried on within the Raiders by Don snr's two sons, David and Don jnr.

David was a star forward for Canberra throughout the 1990s, with 200 games and more than 1,200 points to his name. In 2009, he followed in his father's footsteps to take over as coach of the Raiders, a post he held until 2013.

Meanwhile, Don jnr has long been involved with the club in an administrative capacity and eventually became CEO in 2007.

Raiders chairman, Dr Allan Hawke, paid tribute to Furner in a statement issued by the club.

"Don Furner Senior was a fundamental piece of the architecture in putting our club together," Dr Hawke said.

"He distinguished himself as a player, an exemplary coach and then as an administrator.

"Very few people would have the gift to excel in all the facets of rugby league, but Don Furner Senior did."