Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys has blasted the AFL ahead of the start of its season, suggesting it's a 'boring sport' and he would rather watch TV show The Flintstones.
A week after the NRL regular season started, the AFL is set to get its campaign underway with the traditional opener between Richmond and Carlton on Thursday night at the MCG.
But with Australia's two biggest sports set to go head-to-head during another winter period, V'landys used an interview with NRL legend Matty Johns to throw a barb in the direction of the AFL.
The 59-year-old revealed his disdain for the Australian rules football sport, describing it as 'boring' and suggesting people that followed the game must love 'boring things'.
"Next question. Not really no," V’landys said when asked if he liked AFL by Johns on Face to Face on Fox League.
"Look I’ve never been a fan and I don’t want to take anything away from the great athletes in the AFL players because they are great athletes and they have to be because it is such a boring sport.
"I just can’t get enthused on it and that’s just me. There’s a lot of other people that love the sport, but they must love a lot of other boring things too, but that’s just the way it is."
When asked by Johns what he would watch if he had the choice between AFL or rugby union, V'landys replied: "The Flintstones."
V'landys, who is also the chief executive of Racing NSW, explained his role in helping rugby league and racing compete in the winter sports period.
The administrator believes the AFL see both sports as a significant threat and they don't understand how to deal with competition.
"I love competition," V'landys said. "I think competition is a great thing and it improves your performance. It improves what you do.
"But they don’t see it that way. They see it as a threat. But it is just simply competition.
"They have never had competition so to them it is foreign and they don’t know how to handle it.
"All we are doing in the NRL and in Racing is giving them competition. We are going to get better and stronger and we are going to take some of their fans."
