When the NRL held matches in Las Vegas in 2024, Flynn couple Angela and Michael McDonald knew they would go if their beloved Canberra Raiders ever took part.
In 2025, they were among the 45,209 people at Allegiant Stadium on 2 March where the Raiders beat the New Zealand Warriors 30-8.
Angela said it felt like Grand Final week, but it was in fact the opening round of the 2025 NRL season.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a great way to just get amongst it and do something different,” she said.
“It was a really great concept, lots of fun and you can get involved as you wanted to, or not.”
Angela said Super League fans who had watched their team play prior to the Raiders stayed on, putting their support behind the Canberra team.
“The chanting and the singing from the Wigan (Warriors) supporters was amazing,” she said.
“They were next to our supporter bay, so they really helped lift it and got behind our team and really made the experience great, despite a few hiccups with the (Viking) horn blowing.”
The couple also attended other associated events, including a lunch and the Fan Fest.
Michael said the NRL Las Vegas Fan Fest at Fremont Street – where fans could meet and interact with all eight teams from the UK Super League, a women’s test and the NRL – was wild.
“Vegas is just a 24-hour party, it’s the wildest place I’ve ever been,” he said.
Canberran Cathy Piani went with other family members to celebrate her 60th birthday.
“I’ve always wanted to go, my older son organised it – he got the tickets for the footy game and the accommodation – we paid for our own flights,” she said.
“The accommodation was 800 metres off the Vegas strip which was amazing because we could walk to the strip, but we were far enough away from the hustle and bustle.”
Cathy said attending the event was one of the best things she had done.
“I don’t think I can top that – it was one of the coolest things I’ve done,” she said.
It was her first time to the US.
“It was worth every minute. It was an incredible experience, walking to the ground with other Raiders fans and then seeing the stadium was mind-blowing,” Cathy said.
With the team unable to take the Viking horn to the US with them, a new one was made.
Raiders chief executive officer Don Furner said the horn had made a home at the Raiders headquarters in Braddon.
“It was a unique time. It was amazing to do that Viking clap over there,” Mr Furner said.
He said the club thought they would never bring the horn back, which was blown at Allegiant Stadium by Las Vegas Raiders player Tyler Manoa.
“We thought we were going to leave it over there, but it was such a good win, it was such a great experience for everybody,” Mr Furner said.
“Everyone will remember where they were when that was blown in Vegas, so we’ll probably mount it here (Raiders HQ) and maybe unveil the history of the Viking horn and the Viking clap.
“As soon as we knew it was going to be our home game, we looked at taking ours over there, but it was problematic.
“Then we found this supplier in Las Vegas who was confident they could make one up almost exactly like the specs that we had when it was originally built in Gundagai 12 years ago.
“So, we thought we’ll use it once and leave it over there, but it was such a good memento, it wasn’t hard to bring it back, so we thought we’d leave it here.”
He suggested the horn could be transported to game day where people could get their photograph taken with it.
“In 10 years’ time we’ll look back at this when we come back to visit the place and see it here, so it was really good to see it in Vegas because it was amazing to take across the other side of the world,” Mr Furner said.
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