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Tony Wood has been the man behind the mask of the Raiders’ Victor the Viking mascot for 38 years. While in previous years the role had been one which left him feeling embraced by fans, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit dirty in 2020. COVID-19 rules saw the NRL take on a “clean” zone and a “dirty” zone. Players and officials made up the clean zone, while everyone else – including Mr Woods as Victor the Viking – was classified as dirty. But Mr Woods said while the 2020 season saw him watching the game with the spectators, it was almost like he was in his own zone within the dirty zone. Traditionally a mascot’s role was to interact with the fans. High-fiving kids, taking photos with the fans and giving fist-bumps were the norm for Victor the Viking. But COVID took all of that away. READ MORE: “The NRL gave me a minder – one of the COVID restrictions was that I had to have a minder – and the supporters had to be three feet away from me and I couldn’t touch them,” he said. “There were some times where I actually forgot about that because the role overtook what we were going through and I actually fist-bumped or high-fived someone, and I was reminded that I couldn’t do that. “Little kids, they didn’t really understand what COVID was about. Even though their parents tried to teach them but the kids were still upset because they thought Victor was being rude to them.” Mr Wood said it even went as far as “keyboard warriors” coming out and trolling him online. “You’ve just got to get away from social media because everyone becomes a keyboard warrior,” he said. “They didn’t understand what I was going through. They didn’t understand the restrictions because I said that I was still a part of it. They thought that I was being rude by not touching them. “You feel like you’re a pauper, you feel like you’re an outcast even though you’re not. You can see there’s still the smile that’s created by what you do but it’s from a distance, but it still feels bad.” But despite all of this, Mr Wood felt more for the supporters and for what they missed out on during the 2020 season than what he did for himself. Yes, he was separated from the team – and the supporters in a way – but he also understood supporters felt like part of the team and missed out interacting with the players as well. “I still got the opportunity to support the team as a mascot does and as the general supporter,” Mr Wood said. “And before COVID you could see the passion that the supporters had when they were touching the players and shaking their hands and getting close to the players. But they couldn’t do that this year and they really missed out.”
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The man behind Raiders mascot Victor the Viking, Tony Wood. Picture: Karleen Minney
Tony Wood has been the man behind the mask of the Raiders’ Victor the Viking mascot for 38 years.
While in previous years the role had been one which left him feeling embraced by fans, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit dirty in 2020.
COVID-19 rules saw the NRL take on a “clean” zone and a “dirty” zone. Players and officials made up the clean zone, while everyone else – including Mr Woods as Victor the Viking – was classified as dirty.
But Mr Woods said while the 2020 season saw him watching the game with the spectators, it was almost like he was in his own zone within the dirty zone.
Traditionally a mascot’s role was to interact with the fans. High-fiving kids, taking photos with the fans and giving fist-bumps were the norm for Victor the Viking. But COVID took all of that away.
“The NRL gave me a minder – one of the COVID restrictions was that I had to have a minder – and the supporters had to be three feet away from me and I couldn’t touch them,” he said.
“There were some times where I actually forgot about that because the role overtook what we were going through and I actually fist-bumped or high-fived someone, and I was reminded that I couldn’t do that.
Tony Wood has been Victor the Viking for 38 years. Picture: Supplied
Mr Wood said it even went as far as “keyboard warriors” coming out and trolling him online.
“You’ve just got to get away from social media because everyone becomes a keyboard warrior,” he said.
“They didn’t understand what I was going through. They didn’t understand the restrictions because I said that I was still a part of it. They thought that I was being rude by not touching them.
“You feel like you’re a pauper, you feel like you’re an outcast even though you’re not. You can see there’s still the smile that’s created by what you do but it’s from a distance, but it still feels bad.”
But despite all of this, Mr Wood felt more for the supporters and for what they missed out on during the 2020 season than what he did for himself.
Yes, he was separated from the team – and the supporters in a way – but he also understood supporters felt like part of the team and missed out interacting with the players as well.
“I still got the opportunity to support the team as a mascot does and as the general supporter,” Mr Wood said.
“And before COVID you could see the passion that the supporters had when they were touching the players and shaking their hands and getting close to the players. But they couldn’t do that this year and they really missed out.”
- This article is part of the Displaced Artists Project. The Canberra Times has reached out to artists in different fields to see how COVID-19 has impacted them.
