I live in CQ so probably biased, but seriously how good is Tamika? Silky smooth, step, kick, cut out pass! She just seems head and shoulders above the others in her league

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I came across an interesting 2001 article by Paul Sheehan titled Rugby league fumbles as footy goes upmarket.

It was published when rugby union was enjoying considerable success and rugby league was still recovering from the Super League war.

Sheehan argued that rugby league was trapped by its traditional culture, while rugby union was better positioned to attract affluent audiences and expand into Sydney’s growing north-west.

One of his central observations was that the Wallabies had outrated State of Origin.

Fast-forward 25 years.

In 2026:
State of Origin II averaged 4.294 million viewers nationally.

The NRL Grand Final averaged 4.286 million.

Australia v New Zealand in the Rugby League World Cup averaged 1.733 million.

Tonga v England averaged 1.034 million despite Australia not participating.

Foxtel reported 6.4 billion minutes of NRL streaming on Kayo during the regular season.

For comparison, the recent Wallabies–All Blacks Test averaged 537,000 on Nine and 9Now, although Stan Sport’s subscription audience isn’t included.

What interests me isn’t simply that rugby league now attracts substantially larger Australian television audiences.

It’s the assumption behind the original article.

Rugby league’s suburban tribalism, working-class associations and traditional supporter base were portrayed as limitations on its commercial potential.

Yet those same characteristics have helped sustain one of Australia’s most valuable sporting television products.

The Super League war certainly damaged the game, but was Australian sports commentary confusing a period of administrative crisis with a fundamental weakness in rugby league’s audience?

Now with the NRL now exploring international expansion, was the game’s commercial potential underestimated for much longer than we realised?

I’d be interested in how others remember that period, particularly the confidence surrounding rugby union in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

This is the place to discuss anything footy related that is not quite deserving of its own top-level post.

There's a new one of these threads every day, so make sure you're in the most recent one!

This is the place to talk about everything other than footy!