Glenn Lazarus' switch from the front row to the upper house of politics has caught his former teammates off-guard, but caterers have been warned to be well prepared for the rugby league great's impending arrival.
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Lazarus is on the verge of making an unexpected move to the Senate by winning a seat for the Palmer United Party.
The party had won 10.32 per cent of the primary vote in Queensland, before preferences are counted, giving it 0.72 of a Senate quota.
Lazarus has won five premierships with three NRL clubs and represented NSW and Australia in an illustrious playing career.
Raiders legend Steve Walters played alongside Lazarus, who was known as ''The Brick with Eyes'' in his playing days, in Canberra's first two titles in 1989 and 1990.
He said the news that Lazarus had moved into politics had come out of left field, but it should not be as much of a surprise as catering staff should expect when he arrives in Canberra with the larger-than-life PUP leader Clive Palmer.
''The first thing the caterers need to do is stock up that canteen and get a bit more food in at Parliament House,'' Walters joked. ''I don't think too many people would've seen that one coming.''
Lazarus was born and raised in Queanbeyan and played for the Raiders between 1987 and 1991.
He was instrumental in helping the Brisbane Broncos win back-to-back premierships in 1992 and 1993, before leading the Melbourne Storm to its inaugural title in 1999.
Lazarus' political career has already lasted longer than that of another Raiders icon. Mal Meninga famously bowed out of the running for the 2001 ACT election when he stood down in his first radio interview.
Meninga stood for a party led by former Raiders prop Paul Osborne, who spent 16 years in the ACT legislative assembly between 1995 and 2001.
Osborne believed Lazarus' varied background since retiring from rugby league would help in his political aspirations.
''I'm sure [Lazarus] will do a wonderful job,'' Osborne said. ''I had a bit to do with him when I was on the board at Canberra and he came back as a coach.
''He's got a lot of common sense, which is important in politics, and I think he's got a lot of life experience.''
Osborne admits he had an inkling Meninga was having second thoughts about moving into politics before he suddenly pulled the pin.
''We were going to run together and, to be honest, it didn't surprise me because I could tell when he wasn't that sold on it,'' Osborne said.
''I just wished he made his decision about 15 seconds earlier.
''Mal would have done a great job, but he's now coached Origin and I look back on it with a bit of a chuckle, I suppose.
''I didn't think it was funny at the time.''
