Canberra Raiders look to NFL namesake to blow Viking horn at Las Vegas opener
Updated . First published at
The Canberra Raiders have found someone to blow their custom-made Viking horn in Las Vegas just a day out from their clash with the Warriors at Allegiant Stadium.
Ricky Stuart's team were on the lookout for a participant to take part in the pre-game tradition, after UFC boss Dana White knocked-back their invitation earlier in the week.
And they've had to lean on their namesake from the NFL - with Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Tyler Manoa to do the honours.
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"We're really excited today, we were really trying hard to get a Las Vegas Raiders player to be our ambassador," Raiders chief executive Don Furner said.
"Of course, our name came from the Raiders, the American NFL team, and we're lucky enough today to secure Tyler Mano, who is of Polynesian heritage which makes it even more relevant.
The Raiders' new viking horn in production in the USA. Canberra Raiders
"We've always had a proud history of Polynesian players with our club, so we welcome him here tomorrow to start the Viking clap, hopefully with 60,000 people.
"Tthere is a big Polynesian population that are playing gridiron now, Jordan Mailita, Papa [Josh Papali'i] would have been a good NFL player if he had grown up here."
The team had a new, American-made horn for their season opener, which cost in excess of $10,000 to make.
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The horn is 3.6-metres long and weighs 36kg. The team decided it would be easier if they had one made in Los Angeles rather than transporting the original from the ACT.
Tyler Manoa during his college days. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Raiders players had their first walkthrough of the stadium on Saturday morning, with goalkickers allowed 30 minutes of practice.
"A bit different to Aussie rugby fields, obviously a bit shorter, the 10 [metre line] is actually not a 10, obviously going to be a real physical game tomorrow, looking forward to it," Raiders star Josh Papali'i said.
