NRL grand final: Sia Soliola and Simon Tayoun banging out big bond as Raiders charge into decider
A drum signed by Raiders players and featuring Sia Soliola banging out a tune after matches has become a fixture during Canberra’s unlikely grand final run. Imagine the racket if they actually win the title!
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When Canberra take the field on Sunday for their first grand final in 25 years, the Viking clap will be led by Mal Meninga, three-time premiership captain, perhaps the club’s greatest player, a lime green deity.
But if they win, if they upset the Roosters for the club’s fourth premiership, there will be another clap.
It won’t come from the great, bellowing horn that’ll be set up at ANZ Stadium, and it won’t be a legend from the old days who leads it — this one will be banged out by veteran forward Sia Soliola and a 54-year old boilermaker named Simon Tayoun, whose handmade drum and lime green Viking helmet are fast becoming part of Raiders folklore.
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“The passion of the players, they treat the supporters like family and I’ve never seen a club do it like that,” Tayoun said.
“It’s so special. If we win, he will definitely come to me and we’ll do the drum.
“Always he does. He never gave up on us, and we never give up on them.
ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘
— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) September 27, 2019
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“We love them, and they love us.”
The drum is signed by Raiders players past and present and Soliola banging out a tune after matches has become a fixture during Canberra’s unlikely rise to the top four this season.
After the preliminary final victory over South Sydney, Channel 9 wanted Tayoun to come onto the field to lead the post-match clap himself.
No way, Tayoun said. He couldn’t break up the Simon and Sia combo.
“Channel 9 came to me and said ‘Simon, we need you to come to the front and play the drum for all the people’.
“I said no, I’m not playing. You have to go call Sia, so he can play the drum.
“When I see him before the games I ask him to come to me if we win and play the drum, so we can make the people happy, make the kids happy. Everyone loves it, it’s so good.”
We're coming home#WeAreRaiders pic.twitter.com/oevqcoU4i0
— Canberra Raiders (@RaidersCanberra) September 14, 2019
Canberra adopted the Viking clap in 2016 and it’s become an indelible part of the club’s links to its fans, a rallying cry for a fanbase that desperately needed one.
There’s nothing in the NRL quite like it, and the links it creates between players and supporters help bind the tight-knit Raiders community together.
“I just hit it as hard as I can. Not too hard though — I heard the old drum broke,” Soliola said.
“Every time he brings out a new drum we have to sign it. It’s the least we can do for our supporters.
“He’s always going on his drum, and he’s a great supporter.
“He always travels down from Sydney to here. It builds a connection between us players and the supporters, but it brings the supporters together as well.
“There’s lots of things players do, like giving away their boots and shirts and whatnot, but the Viking clap is something we have that’s our own, that we can enjoy.”
The Raiders might be underdogs against the high-flying Roosters, but there’s no doubt in Tayoun’s mind about what will happen at fulltime. He’s tipping Raiders by six.
“It’ll be a tough game, but I know the players, they won’t let us down,” Tayoun said.
“Bleed green for life, if they come first, second, last, if they win or don’t win.
“I want them to win, but I’ll always support my team.”
Originally published as NRL grand final: Sia Soliola and Simon Tayoun banging out big bond as Raiders charge into decider