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Rugby league in Australia

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Rugby league in Australia
Darren Lockyer(fourth from bottom), Australia's most-capped player, kicking off for the national team in 2009.
CountryAustralia
Governing bodyAustralian Rugby League Commission
National team(s)Australia
Nickname(s)Kangaroos
First played1907,Sydney,New South Wales
Registered players160,691 (total registered)[1]
51,540 (adult)[2]
302,842 (junior)[2]
30,648 (school prorams)[2]
1,000,000+ (includingVariants)
Clubs17 Elite
32 Professional
1077 Amateur
National competitions
Club competitions
Audience records
Single match107,999 –1999 NRL Grand Final
Season3,151,039 –National Rugby League season 2010

Rugby league in Australiahas been one of Australia's most popularsportssince it started being played there in 1908.[3][4][5]It is the dominant winterfootball codein the states ofNew South WalesandQueensland.[6]In 2022, it was the most watched sport on Australian television with an aggregate audience of 137.3 million viewers.[7]The premier club competition is theNational Rugby League(NRL), which features ten teams fromNew South Wales,four teams fromQueensland,and one team each fromVictoria,theAustralian Capital Territoryand New Zealand. The premier representative competition is the annualRugby league State of Originfeaturing two sides, theNew South Wales Bluesand theQueensland Maroonsis often referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry",[8][9][10][11]it is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting huge interest and television audiences.

Australia has a rich history of rugby league, first taking up the sport in 1908 alongside people inBritainandNew Zealand.The country has been dominant over the other rugby league-playing nations for many years, but enjoys a strong rivalry withNew Zealand.

Commonly known as "league" or "football", and sometimes referred to as "the greatest game of all",[12][13]it is traditionally seen as a "working man's sport" with its roots in the working class communities ofNorthern England,compared torugby unionwhich has its roots in prestigious Englishpublic schools.The governing body in Australia is theAustralian Rugby League Commission.

History[edit]

Further information:History of Rugby League

20th Century[edit]

By the time England's new "Northern Uniongame "arrived in Australia it was fundamentally different from that of theSouthern Rugby Union,with lineouts, rucks and two players from each team having already been removed, and theplay-the-ballintroduced to improve the game's flow.[14]

A similar schism to that which occurred in England, and for similar reasons, opened up in therugby unionestablishment of Australia, seeing the term "rugby league" first used for the new game as in the rest of the world, in 1907 at the instigation of the famous testcricketerVictor Trumper.At a meeting in Bateman's Crystal Hotel inSydney, New South Wales,theNew South Wales Rugby Football League(NSWRFL) was formed as a professional organisation.[15]Players were immediately recruited for the new game, and despite the threat of immediate and lifetime expulsion from therugby union,the NSWRFL managed to recruitHerbert "Dally" Messenger,the most famous rugby footballer in Sydney at that time. The visit byJames Giltinan,Harry Hoyle,and Victor Trumper on Sunday 11 August 1907 to gain the agreement of Dally Messenger's mother, Annie Messenger, for him to switch to the new code is part of Rugby League folklore.[16]

Annie Frances Messenger (née Atkinson) mother of Rugby League Champion, Dally Messenger

Rugby league then went on to displace rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales.[17]Four matches were played in Sydney on theNew South Wales Rugby Football League's "Foundation Day" on 20 April 1908 (Easter Monday) in two double headers. AtWentworth Parkin Sydney's Glebe,EastsbeatNewtownbeforeGlebetriumphed overNewcastlewhile atBirchgrove OvalinBalmain,South SydneybeatNorth SydneyandBalmainbeatWests.On 8 May 1909 the first match of rugby league was played inBrisbane.Past Grammarsplayed againstSouthsbefore a handful of spectators atthe Gabba.[18]

TheNewcastle Rugby Leaguewas founded in 1910 with four clubs, Central Newcastle, Northern Suburbs, South Newcastle and Western Suburbs. TheIllawarra Rugby Leaguewas founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). In 1911, a Goldfields' League was formed in West Wyalong, and games were played in Tamworth, Aberdeen, and along the South Coast. The game was introduced to Orange in 1912 and spread quickly through the western districts. In 1913 branch leagues were formed at Bathurst, Dubbo, Nowra, and Tamworth. In 1914 and 1915 an amalgamation of rugby league andAustralian rules footballwas considered and trialled.[19][20]

The1920 Great Britain Lions toursaw a record attendance for any sport at theSydney Cricket Groundas Australia won theAshesfor the first time on home soil. In 1921 approximately 30,000 people watched a women's rugby league game inSydney.This set a long-standing record for the highest attendance at a women's sporting competition outside the Olympic or Commonwealth games.[21]

The attendance record for a rugby league match in Australia was broken in 1932 when 70,204 people saw Australia play England at theSydney Cricket Ground.[22]

The 50th anniversary of rugby league in Australia was marked by hosting the second everRugby League World Cuptournament in 1957.

The attendance record for a rugby league match was re-set by the1965 NSWRFL season'sGrand FinalbetweenSt. GeorgeandSouth Sydneyattracting a crowd of 78,065. The1967 NSWRFL season'sgrand finalbecame the first football grand final of any code to be televised live in Australia. TheNine Networkhad paid $5,000 for the broadcasting rights.[23]

Arthur Beetsonbecame the first indigenous Australian to captain the national team of any sport when in 1973 he was selected to lead the Kangaroos. Also that year NSWRFL bossKevin Humphreysnegotiated rugby league's first television deal with theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation.[24]In 1976Eastern Suburbsbecame the first rugby league team, and one of the first in Australian sport, to sport a sponsor's name on their jersey.[25]

TheNSWRFL Premiershipspread outside Sydney in 1982 with the introduction of theIllawarra SteelersandCanberra Raiders.In 1986,Brisbane Rugby LeagueplayerBob Lindnerwas the last to be selected from a non-NSWRL club to debut for theAustralian national team.1987 was the last year that a state of Origin player was selected from a non-NSWRL club. In 1988 the NSWRL's first teams from outside the borders of New South Wales were added: theBrisbane BroncosandGold Coast Giants.

In 1993 the Australian Women's Rugby League was formed. The1993 Winfield CupGrand Final drew remarkably strong ratings nationwide.[26]The second game of the1994 State of Origin serieswas brought south to theMelbourne Cricket Groundand re-set the nation's rugby league attendance record with 87,161. This success had set the scene for a truly national competition which eventuated in 1995 with the addition of teams fromTownsville,Perthand evenAucklandin New Zealand. However the growth of the competition was severely hampered by one of the biggest corporate disputes in Australian history over control of it: theSuper League war.TheSuper League warwas fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s by the News Ltd-backedSuper LeagueandKerry Packer-backed Australian Rugby League organisations over control of the top-level professional rugby league football competition ofAustralasia.In 1995,New South WalesState of OriginandKangaroosTestforwardIan Robertsbecame the first high-profile Australian sports person and first footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.[27]1997 was unique in Australian rugby league's history as it was split into two separate competitions: the1997 ARL seasonand the1997 Super League season.The following season the premiership was re-united under theNational Rugby Leaguepartnership committee, composed of representatives fromAustralian Rugby LeagueandNews Ltd.

21st Century[edit]

In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia was celebrated, with2008 World Cupbeing held and the Royal Australian Mint launching a series of uncirculated coins in November 2007 to commemorate the occasion. The percentage of indigenous players in top-level rugby league premiership was reported to have fallen from 21% in the 1990s to 11% in 2009.[28] In 2009, rugby league's popularity in Australia was confirmed as it had the highest television ratings of any sport.[29]This occurred again in 2010, with an increased number of people watching Rugby League (120 million) compared to AFL (112 million).[30]This is a season when an unprecedented scandal took place: theMelbourne Stormwas found to have conducted four systematic breaches of the competition'ssalary cap,and had all honours gained over the previous years (including 2 premierships) nullified, were forced to pay large fines and shed enough star players to get back under the cap, all while playing the rest of the season already guaranteed thewooden spoon.

2012 saw a major re-structure of the administration of rugby league in Australia. The newly formed independentAustralian Rugby League Commissiontook over control of theNational Rugby Leaguepremiership, theState of Origin seriesand theAustralian national team.

A 2013 report found that behind cricket, rugby league was Australia's second-most popular sport.[31]The same year a report conducted by Brand Finance valued thePenrith Panthersclub at $46.2m, the highest of any Australian sporting brand, while theBrisbane Broncoshad the highest brand equity.[32]

Polling conducted byRoy Morgan Researchindicated that in 2014 the NRL was second only to the AFL in terms of football television viewship.[33]In 2018, the NRL superseded the AFL's television viewership by over five million viewers.[34]

Kangaroos(top) andJillaroos(bottom) lift their respective2021 Rugby League World Cuptrophies.

Governing body[edit]

Federal governing body[edit]

TheAustralian Rugby League Commissionis the governing body for the sport ofrugby leaguein Australia and also conducts all representative rugby league, including the national team and the annualState of Origin series.The Australian Rugby League's major club competition is theNational Rugby League.

State based governing bodies[edit]

At state level, the game is administered by local governing bodies under the control of the ARLC. The state bodies include theNew South Wales Rugby LeagueandQueensland Rugby League,as well asNorthern Territory Rugby League,South Australian Rugby League,Tasmanian Rugby League,Victorian Rugby LeagueandWestern Australia Rugby Leaguewhich have Affiliate state status.

New South Wales has a second governing body, theNew South Wales Country Rugby League(NSWCRL) to govern the sport outside theSydney metropolitan area.In spite of its name, NSWCRL also governs rugby league in theAustralian Capital Territory.However, the NSWRL absorbed the CRL in 2019.

Club competitions[edit]

Main article:Rugby League Competitions in Australia
See also:National Rugby League,Queensland Cup,New South Wales Cup,Ron Massey Cup,Jersey Flegg Cup,andHastings Deering Colts
Wests TigersvsCanberra Raiders,2006

The elite professional rugby league club competition in Australia is theNational Rugby League(NRL). The NRL's Telstra Premiership is contested by 4 teams from Queensland, 10 from New South Wales, 1 from Victoria and 1 from the Australian Capital Territory as well as 1 team from New Zealand. Formerly, 16 of these teams also fieldedNational Youth Competitionteams, an Under 20s competition that ceased in 2017. This was replaced by theJersey Flegg Cupand theHastings Deering Colts,locally-administrated state-based competitions forNew South WalesandQueenslandrespectively.

Underneath the NRL, semi-professional competitions such as theHostplus Cup,Knock-On Effect NSW CupandRon Massey Cupare run in both New South Wales and Queensland. These competitions are the major feeder competitions for the NRL competition. Alongside these mainly metropolitan-based competitions country rugby league bodies run competitions throughout rural Queensland and New South Wales. Amateur competitions are run in the Affiliated states.

Domestic structure[edit]

Australian rugby league system
CountryAustralia
SportRugby league
Promotion and relegationNo
National system
FederationAustralian Rugby League Commission
ConfederationAsia-Pacific Rugby League
Top divisionNational Rugby League
Second divisionState competitions:
New South Wales Cup
Queensland Cup
Melbourne Rugby League
NRL South Australia
NRL Western Australia
Cup competitionWorld Club Challenge(international)
Regional systems
Top divisions
Rugby league in Australia


Tier League
1
(National) 		AustraliaNational Rugby League
17 clubs
(10New South Wales,4Queensland,1Victoria (state),1Australian Capital Territory,1New Zealand)
2
(State) 		New South WalesNew South Wales Cup
13 clubs
(11New South Wales,1Australian Capital Territory,1New Zealand) 		QueenslandQueensland Cup
15 clubs
(13Queensland,1New South Wales,
1Papua New Guinea) 		Victoria (state)Melbourne Rugby League
17 clubs
(AllVictoria (state)) 		South AustraliaNRL South Australia
5 clubs
(AllSouth Australia) 		Western AustraliaNRL Western Australia
6 clubs
(AllWestern Australia)
3
(Regional) 		Sydney
(Inc. 1Fiji) 		North Coast Greater Northern Riverina and Monaro Western Greater Southern Newcastle and Central Coast Central North South East Sunraysia-Riverlands Limestone Coast Pilbara

Attendances[edit]

Rugby league attendances saw their previously best year in 1995 (the year before Australia'sSuper League War,with total attendances reaching 3,061,893. Six clubs averaged over 20,000 in that year, a feat still unmatched. This was a large increase on the previous years and was no doubt due to the formation of several new clubs and the renaming of the competition, from the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) to the Australian Rugby league (ARL).

A 2004 match betweenBrisbane BroncosandCanterbury Bulldogsin Brisbane

The year of 1996 was a turbulent one for Australian rugby league and saw what may be the largest decrease in attendance ever (2,450,776, down 611,117 down from 1995) in the ARL. This crowd decrease is attributed to the poor publicity surrounding the ongoing court cases related to theSuper League War.When theSuper Leaguecompetition was introduced in 1997 and played alongside the ARL competition it attracted 1,111,189. The ARL for the same year saw slightly higher attendances of 1,308,824. Subsequent years of 1998, in which the merger of the SL and ARL formed the National Rugby League (NRL) and 1999 also saw increases.

The year 2000 saw club mergers and "relegations" from the NRL. The effective slashing of clubs from the first grade rugby league competition was reflected in the slashing of crowd figures as fans became disgruntled by the club they had supported for many years being torn apart.

Crowd figures did not improve until 2003, with an increase of 249,317 on the previous year, 2002. Figures increased again in 2004 and 2005. The aggregate crowd for 2005 was 2,964,288 and the average crowd figure for regular season matches was 16,468, the highest ever recorded, and 34,710 for play-offs. In 2006, attendance slightly dipped to 2,808,235. An average of 15,601 for regular season matches and 34,163 for playoffs, which was still an improvement on 2004 figures.

In 2007, the number of teams competing in first grade rugby league in Australia increased for the first time since 2002 with the re-introduction of theGold Coast TitansinGold Coast, Queensland.[1](Statistics do not include finals)

In 2010 Rugby League recorded its best year ever in Australia, setting a new all-time total season attendance record of 3,490,778 spectators — and with four less teams than in 1995.

Representative competitions[edit]

Main articles:State of Origin series,City vs Country Origin,andAffiliated States Championship

TheState of Origin seriesis an annual best-of-three series of interstate matches between the two strongest rugby league states Queensland and New South Wales. The State of Origin series is one of Australia's premier sporting events, attracting a huge television audience and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played. From 2012–2021, an Under 20s State of Origin match was held annually on the same weekend as the Australia vs New Zealand test. This has now been changed to Under 19s.

Women's State of Originhas been held since 1999, and in 2021 an Under 19s Women's series was introduced.

City vs Country Originis an annual Australian rugby league match that takes place in New South Wales between teams made up of NRL players representing 'City' (Sydney metropolitan area) and 'Country' (all areas in NSW outside the Sydney metropolitan area).

TheAffiliated States Championshipis an annual competition involving four affiliated states (Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia) plus representative sides from the Australian Police and Australian Defence Force.

Demographics of the game[edit]

Total participation[edit]

In an interview for a Sydney Morning Herald article in 2021, Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, Peter V'landys, revealed yearly rugby league participation figures from 2015 to 2021. These participation figures show that national participation in 2019 (the last year before COVID-19 disruption) for males was 147,723 of whom 83,400 were located in New South Wales. National participation figures in 2019 for females was 14,958 with 7,108 were located in New South Wales. By the time of the article in 2021, national participation figures for males had declined to 143,792 while national participation for females had increased to 16,899.[1]

In 2021, a total of 30,648 students in metropolitan, regional and remote Australia from 354 schools participated in rugby league.[2]The NRL 2008 Annual report included significantly higher school participation figures suggesting either a substantial decline of 89% or a more generous definition was applied when measuring participants historically.[35]

Region/State/Territory Overview Registered players 2016[36] Registered players 2023[37]
New South WalesNew South Wales Overview 84,763 83,485
Victoria (state)Victoria Overview 10,046 10,471
QueenslandQueensland Overview 69,042 69,331
Western AustraliaWestern Australia Overview 8,484 8,864
South AustraliaSouth Australia Overview 944 2,879
TasmaniaTasmania Overview 0 10
Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory Overview 1,617 1,743
Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory Overview 2,095 3,866
National total 176,991 180,600

Women in rugby league[edit]

Further information:Women's rugby league in Australia

The vast majority of rugby league participants are male. Of the 172,000 participants in 2004, 5% were female.[citation needed]

National participation figures released in 2021 show female participants number 16,899 accounting for 10.52% of the total national participation number of 160,691.[1]

TheAustralian Women's Rugby Leaguewas formed in 1993, which only achieved affiliation with the Australian Rugby League in 1998. This is in contrast to the men's competition which has existed since 1908.

The lack of female-participation in Australian rugby league can mostly be attributed to the predominantly masculine culture which discourages women from playing, and provides little financial or cultural incentive to play.

Despite this, awomen's rugby leaguematch in Sydney in 1921[38]attracted around 30,000 spectators.

Females account for a large percentage of rugby league's viewing public[citation needed]and the attraction of the game for women partly accounts for rugby league's very strong position in the Australian sporting landscape. Many NRL clubs hold initiatives to foster this relationship. For instance, in 2005 theCanterbury Bulldogsstaged a luncheon for 300 of Sydney's corporate women to raise funds for theNational Breast Cancer Foundation,as well as skills development for school girls within the Canterbury-Bankstown district. This follows the increased number of female members to the boards of the National Rugby League and several of its clubs.Manly Sea Eaglesalso instituted several female directed initiatives, some of which were aimed towards further increasing female spectator numbers.

Not all the perceptions of rugby league being a mostly man game are completely true. At a junior and local level there are many women involved in volunteering positions. Women form a very important part of the local club structures. However, it is not customary for women over the age of 11 to continue playing rugby league against the boys and the exclusively women's rugby league clubs have a relatively small profile in comparison to the local boys' clubs.

Rugby league became the first mainstream professional sport in Australia to appoint a female director to a governing body, with Katie Page, the managing director of retail giantHarvey Norman,accepting an invitation to join theNational Rugby League's executive board.[39]

In 2009 the Australian National Women's rugby league side (Jillaroos) defeated the 2008 Women's Rugby League World Champions New Zealand, in Auckland, ending a ten-year streak of successive defeats at the hands of theNew Zealandteam.

Age[edit]

Junior participation[edit]

An analysis of 2001 New South Wales Child Health Survey by the University of New South Wales has shown that 23.2% of parents are likely to discourage their son from playing rugby league. In contrast, the next most discouraged sport was rugby union, with only 7.5% of parents willing to discourage the sport.[40]This is despite recent[when?]research by Medibank annually since 2003 that puts other sports in Australia, such as Australian Rules Football and soccer as producing more major injuries.[citation needed]

The injury rates and the public perception of rugby league as a dangerous sport are most likely the catalysts for the introduction of several initiatives by the national rugby league and ARL development in recent[when?]years to curb the number of youth playing other sports. The specific initiatives over the years includes a Safe play code, Kids to kangaroos programmes and new forms of modified rugby league, such as, Mod league and Mini Footy to help young children prepare for the full rigours of the international code. Also with such introductions are the competitions aimed at school children such as Joey league, League of legends and League Sevens, which use modified rugby league rules such as Tag and Sevens.

Whilst previous announcements in annual reports have claimed junior registrations as high as 120,667 and up to 1,000,000 children engaged in "rugby-league based physical activities in 2008"[41](which would equate to roughly 1/3 of all primary and secondary children nationwide in that year[42]), more recent[when?]reports have identified far lower participation numbers of 160,691 total registrations[1]and 30,648 students nationwide.[2]

Senior participation[edit]

In 2008, 51,540 people participated in senior rugby league. Participation numbers amongst senior divisions tend to decline in higher age groups. While this can be expected to the nature of a physical sport, overall rugby league senior numbers have declined since the early 1990s. The ARL attributes this to game becoming more physically demanding and the increasing pressure to sustain semi-professional clubs and teams. At the same time, however, it notes that "rugby league is, generally, missing a recreational game that keeps people playing the sport when they drop out of the so-called elite stream". To combat this, the ARL is investing programs, modified rules and gala days to increase senior participation such as the ARL Masters Carnival.[35]

Location[edit]

TheBarassi Linesplits Australia in two, with Rugby League considered to be more popular East of the line andAustralian rules footballconsidered to be more popular to the West.

Rugby league is by far the largest and most popular sport in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory (which constitute 55% of the population of Australia). In these states, NRL viewership figures far outweigh those of any other sport, and crowd figures are ahead of those ofCricketand theAFL,the next largest sports in terms of attendance.

New South Wales and Queensland account for the majority of rugby league participation numbers. However, per capita figures show that Queensland and the Northern Territory rate ahead of New South Wales participation figures, making Queensland and the Northern Territory the largest participators per capita of rugby league in Australia.[citation needed]

Rugby league enjoys lower participation in other states of Australia due to competition with Australia's other premier football codeAustralian rules football,and the high junior level participation rates of other sports such assoccerandbasketball.Victoria and Western Australia have roughly an equal number of participants with Western Australia higher per capita.[35]The establishment of the Melbourne Storm has seen Victoria experience growth in player counts, especially in school based rugby league participation which registered 9,023 participants in 2022.[citation needed]South Australia has the lowest participation levels for mainland Australia and Tasmania has, by far, the least participants for rugby league in the entire nation.

Variants[edit]

Three main variant sports of rugby league are played in Australia;Touch,OzTag,andLeague tag.As can be seen above, total rugby league participation including Variants is well over 1.5 million (1 million touch alone).

Touch[edit]

Main article:Touch (sport)

Touch (also known as touch football or touch rugby) is a variant ofrugby leaguethat is conducted under the direction of theFederation of International Touch(FIT). Though it shares similarities and history withrugby league,it is recognised as a sport in its own right due to its differences which have been developed over the sport's lifetime.

Touch is a variation ofrugby leaguewith thetacklingof opposing players replaced by a touch. As touches must be made with minimal force, touch is therefore considered alimited-contactsport. The original basic rules of touch were established in the 1960s by members of theSouth Sydney Junior Rugby League ClubinSydney, Australia.[43]

The sport is governed in Australia byTouch Football Australiain partnership with the NRL, and is played by over 1 million people nationwide. Top level competitions include theNRL Touch Premiershipand theNational Touch League.

OzTag[edit]

Main article:Tag rugby

OzTag is a non-contact form of rugby league, and can be seen as a variation of British tag rugby. Cronulla Sharks and St George Dragons halfback Perry Haddock introduced the sport in Australia while coaching the1992 St George Jersey Fleggside. Together with Chris Parkes, the two took the sport to fields across Australia. Today, it is played by over 200,000 players in organised leagues across the country.

League Tag[edit]

Main article:League tag

League Tag replaces tackling with the removal of one of two tags carried on an opponent's hips, attached directly to specific League Tag shorts with Velcro patches, but otherwise retains almost all other rules of traditionalrugby league(such as kicking). A number of additional rules are also added relating to the specific issues associated with a tag based game.

League Tag is the primary female version of rugby league administered by theCountry Rugby League.The NSWRL continues to administer the game across the state post the NSWRL-CRL merger in 2019.

The national team[edit]

Main article:Australia national rugby league team

TheAustralian national rugby leagueteam represents Australia atrugby league.Since 7 July 1994 the team's nickname has beenthe Kangaroos.Prior to that the Australian team was only referred to as the Kangaroos when ontours of Great Britain and/or France.They are administered by theAustralian Rugby Leagueand have been the most dominant national side over the past few decades.

In popular culture[edit]

Rugby league has been described as "an iconic Australian sport"[44]and has therefore featured prominently in Australian popular culture. Famous Australian writers throughout history such asBanjo Paterson,Thomas KeneallyandKenneth Slessorhave produced literature about the game.[45]

Media coverage[edit]

Due to the widespread interest in rugby league games played, including the State of Origin series, match results, scorelines and reports of injuries to key players, are comprehensively carried by many Australian newspapers. These include the major national daily newspapers; in general match results and reports are published on the weekend of the game and on Mondays, and commentary continues throughout the week, with rugby league-related stories usually to be found in the sporting section of the major newspapers every week-day.

All premiership games are broadcast on television, either free-to-air or cable. Online, theABC,as well as major newsgroups provide articles on Rugby League, bylined in general by a reporter who is exclusively a sports correspondent. Interest in rugby league is highest in New South Wales and Queensland; as well, many of the large number of Australian expatriates living and working overseas are avidly interested in the season's games, and are able to ensure that they are kept up-to-date by accessing on-line versions of stories provided by major media organisations. Formerly, the official publication for the NRL wasBig League,however, production was suspended in 2020 due to the effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia,and hasn't been renewed since.[46]

The2012 State of Origin series' third and deciding game set a new record for the highest television audience in Australia for a rugby league match since the introduction of theOzTamratings system in 2001.[47]

A list of major newspapers which publish rugby league-related stories includesThe Australian,The Courier-Mail,Daily Telegraph,The Sydney Morning Herald,Herald SunandThe Age.Matches are broadcast on bothChannel 9,Foxteland in New Zealand bySky TV.

ABC radio'sGrandstandprogramme broadcasts live rugby league games on the weekends.Sydneyradiostation,2GB,also broadcasts liveNRLmatches Friday to Sunday (with theirContinuous Call Team).

Rugby league was the biggest television sport in Australia in 2022.[48]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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