Canberra Raiders legend Glenn Lazarus reveals his favourite premiership following ACT Sport Hall of Fame induction

But the man known as "The Brick With Eyes" didn't even blink.

Not only was the Canberra Raiders' historic 1989 premiership his favourite, but it was also the highlight of his career. A career that included 23 Tests for Australia and 21 State of Origins.

Lazarus will be one of three inductees into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame next week, something he was extremely proud of given this is where his roots are from.

The Queanbeyan product made his Raiders debut in 1987, before playing in back-to-back premierships for the Green Machine in '89-90.

Premierships followed Lazarus wherever he went as he became the first player to win one at three different clubs.

He won two under Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos (1992-93) and then led the Melbourne Storm to one in 1999 - the final NRL game of his career.

While that last one was also special, it was still behind his first.

To be part of the celebrations that followed and see exactly what it meant to the people of Canberra made it extra special.

"Eighty-nine certainly sticks out and '99 is another one that sticks out with Melbourne," Lazarus told The Canberra Times.

"But the Canberra one, to bring that trophy back to Canberra and to see the way Canberrans reacted to it, the celebrations that went on for over a week it was just wonderful.

"I think a large part of that was there were a lot of local kids in that team.

"While we were playing in the ARL ... we were still in the country.

"It was just a wonderful thing to do. Canberra were very proud of the fact they had the best footy team in the world basically back in those days.

"To be the first team to take the trophy out of Sydney it was a very proud moment for all of Canberra."

It even trumped his representative career. No small feat considering he played at the highest level for such a long time.

"I look at my debut for Australia, which was wonderful, State of Origin, all of that, but I think Mal [Meninga] says it perfectly - winning grand finals is what it's all about," Lazarus said.

"I'm so proud I was able to play for Australia and NSW, but winning grand finals is what it's all about and '89 was very special for me personally, the boys, the team, the club and of course Canberra itself.

"Just a wonderful time to be playing footy for the Canberra Raiders."

Lazarus was proud of being inducted into the Hall of Fame because he had such fond memories of growing up playing sport in the region.

He's back living in Canberra - to be close to his three children and their grandparents.

And he was excited to be back close to his beloved Green Machine as well.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

It had been tough to leave Canberra in the first place - having grown up in Queanbeyan and the ACT before playing for the Raiders.

But the salary cap dramas of 1991 meant the Raiders couldn't keep everyone from their grand final-losing team.

Lazarus was one of the ones to go, with Bennett swooping to lure him to the Broncos.

"It was very difficult. It was just salary cap issues and all that sort of thing happened," Lazarus said.

"It was just one of those things. Canberra had to prioritise the players they wanted to keep.

"I know they wanted to keep me, but they couldn't keep everybody. I had an opportunity to go to Brisbane.

"I'd lived in Queanbeyan and Canberra all that time up until I left to go to Brisbane so it was a very difficult decision to make.

"But one that was made and I was lucky enough to win a couple of comps for them too. It was always very difficult to play against Canberra."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: