The Canberra Raiders are on the verge of their best home crowd average in 22 years, but the club is considering a return to its boutique spiritual home in Queanbeyan for the first time since 1989.
Fairfax Media can reveal the Raiders will investigate options for playing regular season games at Seiffert Oval if the Queanbeyan-Palerang council secures a slice of a $100 million funding program.
The Raiders will play their last home game of the season when they clash against the Newcastle Knights on Friday night as they fight to keep their faint finals hopes alive.
The Green Machine has enjoyed an off-field resurgence this year and is set to end the regular season with the club's highest average home crowd since 1995.
Sydney clubs are struggling to connect with fans and have been playing at empty stadiums, prompting a crisis meeting of five clubs to table plans to win back supporters.
The Raiders have bucked the trend of the NRL decreasing crowds, boasting an average of 14,422 this season with another 10,000 expected to watch the crucial match against the Knights.
Crowd numbers have jumped more than 2000 in capital this year and the Raiders credit a fact-finding mission to the United States and the Viking clap for reigniting lime green passion.
That passion could spill back across the border with Raiders boss Don Furner saying the club will look to play regular-season games at Seiffert Oval as part of a back to the bush plan.
Seiffert Oval needs a major upgrade and Queanbeyan-Palerang council candidate Kenrick Winchester wants to bid for part of the $100 million regional sports infrastructure program in NSW if he is elected.
The NSW government will hand out grants of $1 million or more to improve facilities in regional areas.
Seiffert Oval would need to upgrade lighting, media facilities, toilets and concession outlets to meet NRL requirements.
The Raiders moved their base from Queanbeyan to Canberra Stadium after their historic premiership-winning season 28 years ago.
"The facilities are very good [at Seiffert] but to get to an NRL standard a lot more money needs to be spent on it," Furner said.
"We could not at this stage commit an NRL competition game but certainly trial games. We'd like to bring more trial games here, it suits us, it's close, it's our heartland, it's where we were born."
The Raiders have an agreement with the ACT government to play every home game at Canberra Stadium, but the club will likely take a match to Wagga Wagga next season as part of the NRL's plan to invest in country areas.
Furner also said the Raiders could base a NSW Cup side in Queanbeyan in the coming years as a feeder team to the NRL squad.
The Raiders have capitalised on a growing supporter base this year, despite the team being in danger of missing the finals.
Raiders commercial and marketing manager Jason Mathie said an end-of-season trip to the US two years ago was the catalyst and visitingNFL team Seattle sparked a game-day experience revamp.
The Raiders also started an "autograph alley" for junior supporters and 18 members will get jerseys off the players after the game against the Knights.
Membership has soared, increasing from 10,081 to 19,091 in the past two years.
"All that intensified since we came back from America. Seattle was very good for us. They let us spend a couple of days with them and their fan engagement was amazing," Mathie said.
"They've got a stadium that takes about 62,000 - it'd been sold out for something like 110 games ... The Viking clap has been unbelievable for us [and] we've got more women and kids coming to the game than we've ever had.
"You're coming to an event now and the event is more than just what happens on the footy field."
Raiders captain Jarrod Croker praised the way fans have stuck with the team despite their results and said the players wanted to repay them on Friday night.
"I think we need to. Our fans have been rock solid this year. We haven't had our best season at home, we've had a lot of our tight losses at home, and some of those nights have been freezing cold," he said.
NRL ROUND 25
Friday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 6pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Joe Tapine, 13. Elliott Whitehead. Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Clay Priest, 16. Dave Taylor, 17. Luke Bateman. Reserves: 18. Jeff Lima, 21. Michael Oldfield.
Knights: 1. Nathan Ross, 2. Ken Sio, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Peter Mata'utia, 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6. Jack Cogger, 7. Trent Hodkinson, 8. Daniel Saifiti, 9. Daniel Levi, 10. Josh King, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Jamie Buhrer, 13. Mitch Barnett. Interchange: 14. Joe Wardle, 15. Mickey Paea, 16. Sam Stone, 17. Jacob Saifiti. Reserves: 18. Brendan Elliot, 19. Pat Mata'utia.
