The eternal battle between the NRL and AFL on who is Australia's biggest code has exploded once again as rugby league ventures into Las Vegas.
But why exactly is there such a vigorous debate into which sport is better Down Under?
The Sporting News investigates.
Why is there a rivalry between AFL and NRL?
A glance upon the English sporting landscape sees sports such as football, cricket and both rugby played across the country.
But there is no significant rivalry between the different codes as they co-exist successfully together.
Why isn't this the case in Australia with NRL and AFL?
Well, two reasons.
First is that major support for AFL and NRL among Australians is close enough to a 50-50 division.
Second is that there is geographical borders mainly supporting one code, with New South Wales and Queensland - the eastern coast- behind rugby league, while Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania are tied in with AFL.
How did the NRL-AFL code wars start in 2023?
MORE: Laurie Daley AFL comments: NRL legend disagrees with Gorden Tallis over Australia's no.1 code
Surprisingly, it wasn't a personality defending their code that sparked the AFL-NRL debate but a legend denigrating their own sport.
Rugby League legend and former NSW Origin coach Laurie Daley said AFL was the biggest winter sport while on Fox Sports panel show The Back Page in August.
Daley was questioned by fellow NRL icon Gorden Tallis the next night on NRL360, where the following exchange happened.
Tallis: You on the Back Page last night saying AFL is bigger and better than us and the No. 1 game?
Daley: Yeah I just said it as a gambling man they play in every state and territory and they get 100,000 people at the MCG and 50,000 at the SCG when the swans are playing so I just said in my opinion I think they are a bigger sport than rugby league.
Tallis: Well the two states I live in, I wouldn’t know a GWS player, or a Gold Coast Sun and every kid in Queensland knows more Dolphins. You’ve got to be No. 1 around the country, not just Melbourne.
Daley: But they are, Gordy. On the west coast they’re more recognisable than what our players are, we’re only on the east coast Gordy. When we go to Melbourne and Perth for Origin we sell it out, but if we take an NRL game there hardly anyone turns up.
NRL's Las Vegas mission sees AFL consider opportunity
Only a couple of weeks after the Daley-Tallis chat, the NRL announced they would be opening the 2024 season with a double-header in Las Vegas at the city's Allegiant Stadium.
This will be the first time the NRL has hosted games overseas for competition points as the sport, with Australian Rugby League commission chairman Peter Vlandy aggressively attempting to grow the profile of the game abroad.
Once the NRL's plans were announced, AFL legend Jimmy Bartel stated he believed Australian rules football administrators would take advantage of rugby league being overseas and attempt to expose the Sherrin to Sydney.
"While you go on holidays, we’ll rob your house,” Bartel said on the Yesterday’s Heroes podcast.
"We might be starting a week earlier next year. I think the AFL have genuinely looked at how the Giants and the Dogs went with only one practice game, and both sides did OK in Round 1.
"They were concerned about injuries and things like that. I think they’ll move it forward by a week because we’ve got the extra round."
NRL claims rugby league is 'Australia's biggest sport' in Vegas ad
While promoting the double-header at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium with a banner on the side of the venue, the NRL claimed that 'Australia's biggest sport would be unleashed in Vegas'.
NRL Graphic on Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium ahead of the season opener in 2024 🔥#NRL #LasVegas pic.twitter.com/5AmW9NaDvC
— AussieSportsWeekly (@AusSportsWeekly) October 19, 2023
The response from AFL personalities to the advertisement was just as you would expect.
AFL shock jock Kane Cornes claimed the NRL was 'delusional' to make the claim, while former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett also derided the assertion.
Peter Beattie issues challenge to Jeff Kennett
After hearing Kennett's disapproval, ARL commissioner Peter Beattie challenged the former Victorian Premier to come to an NRL game with him.
"I worry about the impact the NRL is having on Jeff’s blood pressure,” Beattie - former Premier of Queensland - said in the Daily Telegraph.
"The NRL’s expansion plans are obviously making him nervous.
"I would love to take Jeff to an NRL game in Melbourne in 2024 as my guest to show him how good the game is.
"He would not only enjoy the game but end up better educated from the experience. For years the AFL was better organised than the NRL.
"That is no longer the case. Under Peter V’landys’ leadership the NRL has now become the premier sport in Australia.
"As a former Premier, Jeff should recognise a good Premier. I do."
