The Canberra Raiders have put an even bigger smile on the dial of superfan Brian Connell and donated a private suite at the Canberra Stadium for him and his family to enjoy Saturday night's all-important final against the Penrith Panthers.
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Brian, 46, has been a long-time Raiders fan but has been unable to attend home games in the last year or so after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Confined to a wheelchair, he has progressively lost movement in his arms, legs and body.
Proof of Brian's long-time loyalty is a photograph taken at the 1990 Raiders' welcome home parade after their grand final win against Penrith. In the picture he is holding a sign saying "Sucko" to the Panthers.
His sister, Leanne Dewhurst, said her brother was ecstatic about seeing the Raiders play again, possibly his last opportunity to do so.
"It's just amazing," she said. "Thank you so much to the Raiders."
Raiders spokesman Ben Pollack said the Green Machine was happy to provide some joy to one of its greatest fans, enabling him to sit in comfort to watch the game, protected from the elements.
"Hopefully he will have another sign to hold up after we beat the Panthers," Ben said.
Leanne said the family nickname for Brian was "Bucko" so a "Sucko from Bucko" poster might be on the cards.
In the meantime, The Canberra Times has taken the liberty of producing this lovely "Sucko Panthers" poster in honour of Brian's commitment for him to take to Saturday night's final. We, of course, would not encourage anyone to download and print out this high-quality, high-resolution poster, take it to the game and merrily wave it in the face of any and all Panthers supporters. No, we would never do that. Never.
