Through their day-to-day actions they can help honour the man who helped build the Green Machine.

Furner died aged 88 on Monday following a long battle with illness.

He built the foundations on which the club became a powerhouse in the late 1980s and early '90s, coaching them to their first ever grand final appearance in '87 before they would go on to win a maiden premiership two years later.

Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton never met him, but has known his sons Don jnr - Canberra's chief executive - and David, who was the Raiders coach when Wighton made his NRL debut in 2012, for years.

The Raiders players will attend his funeral and Wighton said they were always representing the man who helped build the club they played for.

"The whole club's representing him every day," Wighton said.

"I think that when we do our best and try our hardest, [then we] go a long way to living that."

He said it was a sad day for the club, especially given how big the Furner name was.

Furner coached the team for their first six years in existence, while his son David took charge for five years and Don jnr is the longest serving chief executive in the NRL.

"It's very sad mate. A bit of history. Furner's a massive name in this club," Wighton said.

"As you know they've been here from the start so it was very sad to hear. All the love and support go to their family."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

It's been an emotional week for Wighton, who played for the Indigenous All Stars in the NRL All Star game on the Gold Coast on the weekend.

Wighton loved the whole week leading up to the game, with all the work they did with the community and kids.

The Indigenous team rallied around Quaden Bayles after he was the victim of bullying.

They reached out to the nine-year-old and he led the Indigenous team out onto the field.

"That was awesome. It's awesome to help anybody out," Wighton said.

"We met Quaden over the years and ... when we saw he was in need and needed a hand it was really good that we were able to reach out and help him out, hopefully lighten his day a little bit with what was going on.

"You don't want to see young kids in that type of state."