Canberra Raiders halfback Sam Williams could hear the hecklers much easier when there were only two or three hundred people watching him play in the second-tier NSW Cup.
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But the recalled playmaker is buzzing ahead of the chance to play in front of a sold-out Canberra Stadium after fans scrambled for tickets to their finals opener.
More than 26,000 fans are expected to pack into Canberra Stadium for the Raiders battle against the Cronulla Sharks.
It's a world away from the park football matches Williams has spent most of the year playing before an injury to Blake Austin opened the door for his NRL return.
"You get the suburban and country feel like when I was playing in Cooma when I was 17 years old when you're playing in the NSW Cup," Williams said.
"There weren't any heckles that stand out, but I reckon there'd be a few big ones if you were standing on the hill watching.
"When you get your opportunity you've got to be ready to go. I'm very excited, this is why you play rugby league.
"You want to play semi-final football and you want to be playing at home. We'll do everything we can to win the game and hopefully it's a good experience."
Raiders fans jammed the Ticketek website for the second day in a row as they raced to get seats for one of the most anticipated matches in the capital in 20 years.
Green Machine fever is sweeping around the city, even prompting ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr to bring his 1989 scrapbook to Raiders HQ to get Ricky Stuart's autograph on Tuesday.
The Viking Clap will return after its successful debut three weeks ago and the NRL released standing-room sections for an extra 1200 people on Tuesday afternoon before they were almost all snapped up within an hour.
The reconfiguration and refurbishment of Canberra Stadium means it's unlikely the Raiders will set an attendance record for games in the capital.
But the fact tickets all but disappeared in less than 35 hours sends a lime green message to coach Ricky Stuart and his men.
"There have been very, very strong ticket sales and we're looking at what we can do with the Raiders to get more people into the venue," Barr said.
"We certainly intend to do everything we can to make sure that every Raiders fan that can possibly fit into Canberra Stadium will see the game live.
"It's one of the most significant sporting events we've seen in the city in recent times. We're a chance of a new ground record and that would add to a fantastic sporting year for Canberra."
The Raiders' highest crowd of the regular season was 19,000 for their clash against the Parramatta Eels, but support will swell close to the rugby league ground record of 26,746 set in 2010.
The Raiders have minimal finals experience in their roster and mostly spend the season playing in front of crowds between 9000 to 15,000.
But hooker Josh Hodgson backed his young teammates to stand tall on the big stage.
"I think they'll be absolutely fine," Hodgson said.
"They've got great guys around them and they know all they have to do is their job.
"It doesn't matter what game it is, whether you're playing for nothing or to win a comp, you've just got to do your own job every week and be consistent at doing that."
NRL FINALS
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 5.30pm.
Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Edrick Lee, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Sam Williams, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sia Soliola. Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Luke Bateman, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Joe Tapine, 18. Paul Vaughan.
