There is nothing quite like it.
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Cheap sausage sandwiches and beers fuel the mad dash to find a suitable spot on the hill that more often than not runs around the entire venue.
If all else fails, you can climb onto the roof of the house just over the fence for the best vantage point.
The Canberra Raiders will put an exclamation mark on their bid to become "the country club" when they host the Penrith Panthers at Wagga Wagga's McDonalds Park this Saturday.
You would almost expect the boys from Wagga Brothers to be manning the sausage sizzle, if not then the Wagga Magpies steering the ship in the beer tent.
Rugby league supremos have made clear their desire to take more games to the bush, out to the salt of the earth punters yearning for a glance at the game's elite.
The Raiders' home game will come a week after the Wests Tigers and Gold Coast Titans played in front of 9799 at a heaving Scully Park in Tamworth.
Every time one of these games rolls into a country town, the Twittersphere lights up in awe of the romance surrounding those boutique grounds.
For me, it begs a question.
As we edge closer to the NRL's Magic Round, in which all 16 clubs will play at Suncorp Stadium over one weekend, why doesn't Todd Greenberg try to wave his wand at country venues for a week?
The Raiders could play in Wagga, the Penrith Panthers could set up camp in Bathurst, St George Illawarra can pack out Mudgee and the Tigers can return to the den in Tamworth.
They mightn't be the biggest towns - you could double the population of Mudgee and still squeeze just about everyone into Leichhardt Oval - but rugby league runs through their water supply.
Then there are areas like Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Toowoomba, Mackay, Cairns, Rockhampton, Orange and Albury to be serviced.
If they can't all be on the same weekend, there is little reason why every club cannot make a long-term commitment to playing one game in a regional area per season.
It is clearly not as simple as saying "let's all take one game to the bush" - there is the need to convince enough local councils to get on board.
Then of course every club has stadium deals and paying members to worry about.
The Raiders learnt that the hard way last year upon announcing their decision to shift one game to Wagga for the next two seasons.
The Green Machine found themselves at loggerheads with the ACT government after the political powerbrokers deemed the Raiders were breaching a contract to play all games in Canberra.
A $150,000 penalty was imposed upon the Raiders after they opted to take a game away from Canberra Stadium, one taken into account when the deal to play in Wagga was struck.
ACT sport minister Yvette Berry said the fine had to be imposed for moving an allocated home game from Canberra to Wagga, due in part to logistics of existing security, catering and game-day contracts.
The Raiders were disappointed with the government's decision and the club will seek a different arrangement in a new stadium contract.
The government pays $350,000 per year to lease Canberra Stadium for NRL and Super Rugby matches, as well as other events.
Then there is the issue of catering for club members, of which the Raiders have welcomed increasing amounts in recent seasons. The club is tracking towards 20,000 and that number could soon skyrocket if the Green Machine stays at the pointy end of the ladder.
Some have supported the club's move into the Riverina, which has proven to be a goldmine filled with promising rugby league stars for years and will continue to be for many to come.
They are willing to overlook the cost of their membership so the club can shift a game to a regional area for the good of the game.
Others have been left frustrated given they have already dished out their hard-earned cash for expensive club memberships.
The bulk of those members will miss out on the grandstand seat they pay for when the club hosts a game in Wagga.
Club 82 members pay $1380 for private suite access, a reserved seat, pre-paid parking, drink vouchers and finger food throughout games.
You can understand why they might be perplexed about games being moved away from Canberra - and ideally, moving forward that will be an easy fix.
Lower the cost of memberships to the value of 11 home games per year, or have an alternative option including next season's Wagga showdown.
For mine, that is the way to go about it.
There is nothing quite like the romance of rugby league at a regional ground, and there needs to be more of it to fuel what the die hards call the greatest game of all.
It's a big week for ...
The chiefs at the World Boxing Organisation, who must do something about a robbery occurring on their watch.
Sure, controversy is never far away in boxing, but the absolute farce that has enveloped the WBO's light middleweight division is something else.
Brisbane-based Irishman Dennis Hogan defied the hype of the big-punching Jamie Munguia to become, in the eyes of many, the rightful champion of the world.
But he was robbed on the judges' scorecards, who gave the fight to Mexican hero Munguia in his home country, and subsequently lost an appeal of the decision.
The entire scenario has been an embarrassment for the WBO, especially considering five independent judges re-scored the bout a draw.
Neither fighter was even drug tested after the bout, which WBO president Paco Valcarcel says is because "the lab didn't show up".
The WBO must wipe the egg of its face and order an immediate rematch. Hogan shocked the boxing world and was robbed of the prize for doing so.
Hogan's promoter Paul Keegan says 'The Hurricane' "deserves justice and we won't stop until he gets his belt".