Former Raider turned NRL grand final pitch invader Mark McLinden's intriguing activist life, reviewing Elon Musk's Starlink, rapping about Donald Trump

It's safe to say it's been an interesting journey for Mark McLinden - from Canberra Raiders halfback to NRL grand final pitch invader.

Thirteen years since his retirement from professional sport, McLinden thrust himself back in the spotlight by running onto the field during Penrith's demolition of Parramatta in the decider at Stadium Australia on Sunday.

He was arrested and fined $5000 in scenes that brought back memories of current senator and former ACT Brumbies star David Pocock chaining himself to a digger at a coal mine in northern NSW.

Similarly, McLinden was calling for action on climate change - his T-shirt bore the message "end coal, gas and oil - for our kids".

He was trying to chain himself to the goal posts, but was brought unstuck because his chain wasn't long enough to get around the padding.

This was because McLinden wanted to use a combination lock, for which the code was 415 - the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

"Ultimately I was unsuccessful with what I was trying to achieve ... I wasn't able to suspend the game such that the network would have no option but to talk about the interruption," McLinden said.

"As it was I was unsuccessful and utterly disappointed with the result.

"I tried my best on the weekend. It won't be my last attempt. I'll lick my wounds and accept all the criticism that comes my way, but there's been a lot of really nice words from people who are similarly concerned with the breakdown of the environment."

As a Raider he formed one half of the "Mac Attack" in a halves pairing with Andrew McFadden.

He played 165 games for the Green Machine before ending his rugby league career in the English Super League.

McLinden then spent one season playing for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby before a neck injury ended his career.

Given he wrote a movie script while playing for the Raiders, it's probably not surprising he's since popped up in a number of videos on YouTube.

There's the chicken bus world record attempt of "Marty and Ginski" - the adventures of a couple of mates backpacking their way through Central America almost a decade ago.

During his playing career he was remembered as being a deep thinker. And here's the proof.

Just how many people could you cram into one of the iconic public buses in Latin America? More than the record of 216, surely.

Even the local mayor and fire brigade got involved to help make their dream come true.

They fell narrowly short at their first attempt, but crammed in an amazing 221 second-up to claim the record.

His more recent work's as the Gentle Earthling - rapping about climate change in his single Hotter in the lead-up to Australia's last election and poking fun at former USA President Donald Trump with Donald's America in the lead up to their last election as well.

There's a review to see how good Starlink's internet really is and a call to stop the Adani coal mine.

Now he's taking his action to promote climate change to the next level by protesting on the stage he once dreamed of playing on.

"I co-create music that has a message and you'll notice that I'm not a singer, so in the songs that I've got the chorus is often taken over by someone who can actually sing," McLinden said.

"I see music as an avenue for change. Only a couple of years ago I was like, 'Where are all the good climate change songs?'

"But I can see why there aren't because talking about atmospheric carbon dioxide isn't all that engaging, or sound as good as talking about your broken heart.

"There's a song I put out before the most recent election in Australia - it was campaigning for people who I viewed as climate champions."

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