Canberra Raiders fans flock to Sydney to witness rugby league history

One by one, they marched on wards and climbed aboard the Sydney express and traveled towards the heartland of rugby league.

Some face-timed their loved ones. Some read newspapers wrapped in green. Other heavy eyed fans sipped coffees which would likely later become an ice-cold beer at Sydney Olympic Park.

But all had come in the hope of witnessing history.

The Green Machine will battle to break their 25 year premiership drought when they face the Sydney Roosters at Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday night.

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"Can't you just drop us at the stadium?" Mark Dohlberg from Dunlop joked to the driver.

Mark and Jake Dohlberg had been to every home match at Canberra Stadium this year but narrowly missed out on a ticket for last week's preliminary final.

They stumbled onto the bus after having just four hours of sleep with their Raiders gear at the ready.

"I've been waiting a week since we made the finals," Mark said.

"It was an early start, we had too many Jack Daniels last night and had four hours sleep. So that was difficult being six-foot-six on a bus. [I think] the Raiders will win by six."

Seats filled within minutes as Raiders fans packed bus after bus in the early hours of Sunday morning.

But a unanimous groan echoed down the bus as traffic came to a standstill on the Federal Highway. And we hadn't crossed the New South Wales border.

It took half an hour for the traffic to slowly start moving as emergency services flew past with red-and-blue lights blaring.

Hundreds of cars edged north like ants crawling in a single file. Fans sighed with relief and unstuck their noses from the coach's window as lanes finally reopened near the Sutton Road exit.

Cars flew past with Green Machine flags flapping in the wind while passengers began to shut their eyes on board the bus.

Fans slept as the sun rose over the Hume Highway and time ticked closer to kick off.

Every so often you'd hear a whisper as passengers began to make their grand final predictions.

Who will score first? Will Papa ride on his preliminary final high? But what about Charnze? He's certainly due for a try.

The whispers continued as the bus finally pulled into Central Station and the Raiders faithful began to eye Roosters fans hurrying through the busy concourse.

The tricolours of Eastern Sydney blended into the crowd while Canberra's lime green merchandise stood out no matter where you looked.

The trains departing platform 19 marked the journey's end for thousands of Canberrans who followed the Green Machine to their first grand final in 25 years.