The Canberra Raiders are putting the fire-ravaged community before the NRL Nines.
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Jarrod Croker, Josh Hodgson, Josh Papalii, Nick Cotric, Jack Wighton and most of their stars will spend the upcoming week visiting Braidwood, the NSW south coast, the Snowy Valley and the Snowy Monaro to try and put a smile back where the bushfires have taken so much away.
It's the first opportunity the Green Machine have had to spend time in the communities around them as they look to go one step further than last year's NRL grand final.
While Elliott Whitefield, Sia Soliola and Sam Williams will lead a young squad over to Perth for the Nines next weekend, the bulk of the Raiders squad will jump on a bus and spread some love.
They'll make school visits, have barbecues with fire fighters, settle in for marathon signing sessions, visit businesses, pubs and Diggers, and do the odd bit of training when they can.
There'll also be plenty of donations to local organisations along the way.
It's the first of many events the Raiders are planning this year as they rally around those who have been hit hard by the devastating fires.
Raiders chief operating officer Jason Mathies hoped it would complement the visits St George Illawarra and Canterbury have already made, as well as what Penrith and Parramatta will do when they play a pre-season trial in Bega.
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"It's a small contribution we can make at a time we're able to do it. For us it's not just going to be a one-off involvement," he said.
"For us, we're about long-term recovery and helping those people get through what's been a chaotic time.
"To actually start on the road to recovery and our organisation just wants them to know we'll stand with them along the way.
"This is one part of a whole lot of planned activities we're going to do.
"The trip itinerary we've put together is hopefully complementary to what a lot of other teams in our game have done.
"For us it's about spreading the love, not of the Raiders, but of the code."
Raiders co-captain Josh Hodgson was blown away by the sheer scale of the fires.
It wasn't until he saw a comparison on a map of England - which showed if the fires where in his own country most of the southern half would've been on fire - that it fully hit home.
He also said they helped put everything in perspective - the injuries, the niggles, the losses all seem less of a problem compared to what people have lost in the blazes.
But he loved how everybody from rugby league, sport and the whole world had rallied around those affected.
While he's seen the devastation, Hodgson wasn't sure he could prepare himself for what to expect when he sees it first hand.
"I imagine it will be pretty confronting. I don't think you can brace yourself," he said at the Raiders annual fan day on Saturday.
"I don't think you can take into account how big of a scale it is.
"I remember someone showed me a map of England and they showed me how much of England would've burnt.
"Because Australia's so big you don't realise how much it's actually taken.
"When you put it on a country as small as ours it puts it into perspective personally how much of this country has burnt and how many people have been affected by it.
"I think it's great how everybody around the world's coming together to try and help these people.
"I'm looking forward to going out there and seeing a few people and hopefully putting a few smiles on faces."
Raiders lock Joe Tapine hoped they could provide a welcome distraction, especially for the kids.
"It will be a real eye opener going down and seeing it first hand because on TV it's bad and my missus drove past one of the towns and it brought her to tears," he said.
"It'll be a tough one, but it will be a good experience for the boys just to know what a lot of people have lost."
RAIDERS SCHEDULE
Tuesday: Visit Batlow and the Snowy Valley until Friday.
Thursday: Visit Braidwood, Batemans Bay. School visits at Mogo and Broulee. Meet with RFS brigades at Bawley Point.
Friday: Train at Hanging Rock in Batemans Bay. School visits at Moruya. Visit Cobargo Hotel and Cooma Ex-Services Club.