If it hasn't already, Raiders hype is sure to flood social media as thousands of fans pile into Canberra Stadium and stop for a photo in front of a new mural painted in honour of the Green Machine.
The large artwork of Victor the Viking now looks over the field where the Canberra Raiders will take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a preliminary final on Friday.
Painted by Sydney artist Sid Tapia and commissioned by Fox League, the mural takes on a realistic look and took four full days to complete.
"The concept for this mural came to me straight away," Mr Tapia said.
"I knew how powerful the image could be, and I thought it would be amazing to get such a strong character and show the strength the team would love to embrace in the finals.
"I wanted it to be something that would not only empower the team, but the fans as they walk into the stadium."
Although it looks mostly green, Mr Tapia said the mural used more than 45 different colours and took four full days to complete.
Completed two weeks ago, the mural will be revealed to the public for the first time on Friday when 28,000 people file into the stadium, in what is set to be the biggest Raiders crowd on record.
"I'm really pumped for people to see it, and for people to stop and take photos in front of it," Mr Tapia said.
"These artworks really bring out people's hearts. Sometimes they say they love the mural, but hate the team. It's exciting to see all the different reactions."
The Canberra painting is just one of many NRL murals Mr Tapia has completed and, despite not following the game, he admits this is his best. His other favourite is, ironically, an artwork of retired South Sydney Rabbitohs great Greg Inglis in Redfern.
"I actually don't follow footy at all, but if I was to follow a team it would be the Rabbitohs," he said.
"Though I am not attached to the game, I find the NRL murals the more fun and exciting ones to do because they bring different people together.
"It's a powerful game and I love painting really powerful murals."
