Since falling in love with the Canberra Raiders in 1984, Con Sfetsos has amassed a collection of memorabilia worth over $500,000 - and he's never even lived in Canberra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Sfetsos, 41, lives in the western suburbs of Sydney but became a Raiders obsessive at the age of just eight, when he spotted the logo of a brand new rugby league club that featured a viking.
"Back then I liked the warriors, that toughness, and it's partly my Greek heritage, and when I saw the Raiders and I saw vikings, I just fell in love with them and that was it," Mt Sfetsos said.
"I remember watching a game in 1984 and thinking to myself 'one day I'd like to have every single Raiders jersey' and guess what? I'm almost there."
Piled into 15 plastic tubs and two cupboards in Mr Sfetsos's garage is a collection of Raiders memorabilia that's the stuff of dreams for those who bleed green.
The collection features more than 200 jerseys - 78 of which are signed by players - flags, signs, footballs, Raiders-branded wines and a Victor the Viking gold ring.
Mr Sfetsos's personal favourites from the collection include a game-worn 1982 jersey signed by its original owner and one of the very first Raiders centres, Carl Frommel, and a Ricky Stuart tribute port wine (still in its wooden box).
A two-metre sign originally hung in the main street of Queanbeyan following the Raiders' 1989 grand final win is also treasured.
"Over 23 years I've spent $150,000, but it's now easily worth $500,000," he said.
Mr Sfetsos, recently crowned the NRL Fan of the Year in a competition run by TAB, spends hours each week trawling Gumtree, eBay and Facebook, looking for special Raiders treasures to add to his collection.
He is an administrator of both the RAIDERS4LIFE and Raiders Memorabilia Group Facebook pages, allowing him to stay in touch with fellow Green Machine fans further down the Hume Highway. He's been to 10 out of 14 Raiders games this year.
Closer to home, hardcore Raiders fan Sue Washington literally drives her passion for the boys around on four wheels.
Almost every inch of her brand new Hyundai Veloster is covered in Raiders players from across the years, with one very special captain taking pride of place on both sides of the vehicle.
"Mal Meninga will always epitomise the Canberra Raiders and he's my all-time favourite," she said.
Ms Washington's little green pocket rocket features Raiders car seat covers (of course) and has even been equipped with external speakers to blast the team song, We're Bad and Mean.
While Ms Washington isn't a fan of people taking photos of the car while they're driving - "which happens a lot" - she loves walking out of the shops to find kids being photographed with the car or people taking selfies with it.
"I love it, I love it, I love it - it's just awesome, it makes me smile," she said.
"When people are taking pics I'm like 'tag me please!' I want the photos and I'd love to have a folder with all the random photos that people are taking, I just love it."
Ms Washington's love of the Raiders also spans two decades, beginning in the 1980s when she'd sit in the back of a friend's ute at Seiffert Oval, yelling at the boys to "tackle!"
"I just love the game, I love the passion, I love the mongrel in rugby league," she said.
"And the kids would be looking at me like 'mum, there's something wrong with you' because I was always screaming and carrying on.
"They were the best days, weren't they? When you were up close to the ground, you could hear the ref talking to the boys, and you could hear the hits."
Mr Sfetsos and Ms Washington are good friends and meet up at most Raiders games. Their only hope for the boys this year is for them to make the final eight.
"I think if they don't make the eight it will shatter them - they'll feel like they've let the fans down badly and it will hurt them," Ms Washington said.
"They've just got to get out of their own heads and do what they do best.
"As I always say: 'In Ricky we trust'."
