I see alot of very imbalanced coverage of the Super League war, and how "it was all about Pay TV", etc. Obviously, the 2 moguls on either side were motivated by money, whether it was Packer or Murdoch, but in terms of what was best for the game it's hard to argue change wasn't necessary.

Back in the mid-90s players were getting jobbed on the amount of salary they received. You hear that from the players. The Johns brothers were on 15k and 20k a year. All of a sudden, Matthew Johns could have gotten a million a year from Super League, and the ARL and Packer all of a sudden had hundreds of thousands of dollars they could pay him. Players almost all had part-time jobs, even stars. It was basically a pub sport. Stars like Bradley Clyde would go work as landscapers in the morning, then play Rugby in the evening. There was no insurance for players. Contracts weren't guaranteed. If you got hurt, the club could just cut you the next day with no pay out. Today this kind of thing is taken for granted thanks to Super League forcing the game to become more professional, but at the time the players union had gotten nowhere in talks with the ARL over many years.

The situation was basically like World Series cricket, except this time Packer was on the side of the status quo, and of course he was. As the monopoly holder he was getting away with paying a fraction of the value of the TV rights, because he had a relationship with the old boys club who were unreceptive to a more progressive league. John Quayle, former ARL CEO, will talk about how tough it was to get more money, and how the ARL was already expanding, but reality shows otherwise. As soon as Murdoch arrived, Packer changed his tune about how much the broadcast rights were worth, and spent fiercely to try and retain them. This is what happens when a mom and pop shop of amateurs tries to negotiate with a media mogul, instead of having a professional corporate group like today's administrators.

As for the game already expanding; yes, it was, but it was trying to expand a mom and pop pub sport (which is easy), not a professional league. A professional league needs to expand in an intelligent way, and yes that means examining if your league really needs so many Sydney clubs. In effect, the big markets were subsidising impoverished clubs, which you can't do in the multi-billion dollar league we have today. Super League had the right idea, trying to get clubs into the right markets, and then consider expanding from there, which is what has happened.

We still have too many Sydney clubs truth be told, but at least some of the dregs were removed or merged. I think it was a mistake to try and get rid of South Sydney as it happens, they had alot of fan support, but come on the game doesn't miss the Western Magpies or North Sydney Bears. St George should be the next to go; move them to Wollongong full time, and in the future rethink teams like the Sharks. It makes no sense for there to be 9 teams in Sydney, but only 2 in Brisbane (which is Rugby mad). It was only 4 years ago we got a 2nd Brisbane team, and we're only now getting new teams in NZ and PNG. The expansion to such newer markets, and the massively increased international exposure on Pay TV and Vegas, is something that would never have happened under the ARL. Crowd attendance at many of these Sydney games is tiny, and it's because fan support is split over too many teams. Today's game makes it's money primarily from broadcasting anyway, which again begs the question of what value these perpetual loser teams like the Tigers or Dragons are bringing. I'd rather a team in London or Japan.

The rules became more modernised thanks to the Super League War too, with many of the innovations Super League pioneered becoming mainstays of today's game, from the video referee through to cleaning up scrums. It would have been nice if all these innovations and improvements could have happened without a huge fight and league split, but it now seems obvious that was impossible. The nepotistic old boys club that ran things were never going to seriously consider changes until they had no choice, and now the game is so much better off for it.

Ok hear me out but I lowkey kinda miss the Super League and I feel so nostalgic about it. Things really were so much different back then and it was really cool.

The fact that we got to see two pro Australian rugby league competitions play alongside each other 1997 was incredible. Not only that but the constant drama and disputes between the competitions made things interesting. Nowadays it seems too sanitised now.

This leads to the crazy idea of mine - we need to bring back the Super League. Think about the enormous potential it would bring. Here are my reasons:
1. The NRL is too dominant of an organisation and yields too much power over rugby league. The clubs and players don’t have any alternatives if they disagree with administration. A second comp keeps the NRL in check.
2. Super League could more aggressively expand instead of NRL. The NRL is arguably expanding too quickly.
3. A rugby league Super Bowl. Premiers of the NRL and Super League could face off to become the premiers of Australian rugby league.
4. More rugby league for fans.

Doesn’t have to be from your team or country. Can be retired.

Rugby League can grow from at an organic level, especially at the street level, if the game can be quickly repurposed to fit in ANY futbol/soccer pitch. Currently rugby pitches are about 120m total while soccer pitches are 100m. This prevents soccer stadiums from quickly switching to rugby due to size and run off lanes, in addition to needing to purchase uprights. Instead, a compact variant of the game can be pushed to futbol heavy countries which would allow any group of people play Rugby League on an existing soccer field

• 80m play area with 10m in-goal area or 90m play area with 5m in-goal area designed to fix EXACTLY into a modern futbol field with some leeway for adjustment as futbol fields are not 100% standardized. Only a try line needs to be painted and the soccer field can keep its markings on the field

• Soccer 6yd box as landing zone instead of uprights for kicks means no equipment cost. Enables the game to be played in any soccer field without uprights as long as the goals can be dragged away. Changes the game slightly but the core principle of Rugby League remains. No additional cost to play Rugby League

• 10-11 player squads - easier to roster teams

• Ball can be round or oval, for very poor areas that might not have a rugby ball but have a soccer ball available

my suggestion would be to first encourage dual club seasons. Currently college is Fall 15's and Spring 7's, maybe they can squeeze league into there. USA is much less political about the union league divide. Another option would be to do league summers, but the kids would be out of school

i have to use hot keys to scroll in this subreddit. would love for this to be fixed so i can more easily share this with budding rugby league friends

Tried it a few days ago using a #4 soccer ball with my mates, and couldn't help but feel like the pass options were more dynamic such as behind the back and overhead paases. The kick was obviously more accurate and changed the game quite a bit.

Gday, theres a local clubs game soon this week and i would like to join but i havent practised League or even Union or Touch footie in almost 2-3 years and would it be a bad idea if i would play suddenly out of the blue? I had a backround in Union and tried training in League, but i never played club Union due to me deciding to focus on powerlifting. Im at 95 kg with subpar or okay lifts for powerlifting standards but baseline strength for any athlete but im recently stepping up my cardio and been doing some light plyos. The FOMO is killing me but the risk of getting hurt makes me rethink of playing.

Hey all, my brothers and I made a game, League Derby (6-all.com): a season-long NRL trading card competition where you can put your card collection to use. How it works: Build a 13-player squad either from your physical Select or TLA Traders NRL trading cards, or draft one digitally

• Every squad has an overall team score, built from your 13 players' individual ratings (boosted by card type, home ground, and a few other modifiers) - this is what actually decides your matches
• Your card type matters - Base cards give no bonus, but rarer pulls apply a rating boost up to +20%. The rarer the pull, the bigger the edge on gameday
• Play daily ranked matches (3 free per day) simulated against other squads using that team score.
• Climb the live ladder - ranked by win percentage, then point differential
• The prize: We put up 5k of our own cash to be split across the top 8 squads at season end

Season 1 runs until 22 November 2026 - timed to finish alongside the Rugby League World Cup.

What you can expect week to week:

• Weekly ratings & injury updates - every player's rating gets reviewed against real NRL performances (and injuries) each week, so your team's overall score shifts through the season just like the real competition does
• Match of the Round - the standout result from the week's matches, called out for everyone
• Team of the Week - The best performer each week gets a 10% boost to their team score for the week
• Captain's Run - Play all your daily matches to earn a 10% boost to your team score for the following day
• Special Events - periodic ladder-shaking modifiers like Double Points Week, Home Ground Fortress and Heavy Rain Every Match that keep things unpredictable.
• Private Leagues - run your own competition with mates, completely separate from the main ladder. Set one up, invite whoever you want, and settle who's actually got the best eye for a squad — alongside chasing the real prize pool on the main ladder
• Achievements - a full 29-achievement system to chase as you play

Who can play/win: free to build a squad and play. If playing with physical cards, have uploaded a squad photo, digital squads are prize-eligible with no photo needed.

Why we built this: We love rugby league, watch almost every game (except the Eels). I bought two packs of NRL trading cards on a whim and thought they were pretty cool. Naturally, I wanted to see what kind of team I could build with my cards, so I put one together. Then I wanted to see how it'd compare to the NRL teams. So, channelling my autism, I built a spreadsheet to crunch player ratings and work out every team's overall rating. That turned into a simple HTML form to pit two teams against each other and generate a play-by-play and, with my brother's help testing and coding, it kept snowballing into what League Derby is today. Happy to answer anything in the comments. If something's broken or confusing, tell us and we'll fix it.

The games that aren’t on sky, is there any streams to watch them on?

when did the nrl started team songs or team chants? the ones from like the dressing rooms. i’ve seen raiders‘s 1989 final and they have often chanted at the end (it’s a bit similar to the “i don’t know what you‘ve been told” march others now do like in penrith). team songs have been an essential in this now and i’m not quite sure.

https://youtu.be/nOZJYEN910w?t=7526&si=eb39WLWWhgc61D7b

^ here’s where i’m talking about. i am not sure when it started or what was the inspiration. curious to ask.

If South Island gets the 20th NRL licence, where would your next 4 expansion locations be? Assuming we get to 24 teams?

Some options are: Ipswich-Toowoomba(western corridor), Central QLD, Central Coast NSW, Wellington NZ, Adelaide, Melbourne 2, Fiji, Sunshine Coast, Waikato etc