SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 08: A Panthers fan celebrates a try during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Penrith Panthers and the New Zealand Warriors at ANZ Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
For the first time since 2010, the NRL has beaten out the AFL for television ratings across the first week of finals football.
Viewers watching from the comfort of their own homes prefered the closeness of the NRL games compared to the AFL, which were three one-sided blow out games.
The NRL have also defied the overall trend in Australian TV market, where ratings have seen a decline of 7.2 percent in total over the last year.
The overall NRL ratings are down 0.3 percent at the end of the regular season when compared to 2017, but its not as big as a drop as the AFL who are down 12.8 percent in ratings at the end of their season.
Cumulative season figures for viewership show NRL is still dominant when it comes to ratings, racking up a total of 94.3 million to the AFL's 89.2 million, excluding the State of Origin figures.
The AFL had one less round than the NRL, but make up for it as they have one additional game each week in the 18-team competition, meaning TV networks cover 12 more games throughout the year.
The average free-to-air audiences for the NRL has also triumphed over the AFL, as their crossover timeslots seem to not be free-to-air friendly.
NRL's subscription TV audience figures is also up three percent from 2017, while the AFL has lost seven percent on their 2017 figures.
Queensland continue to show they are rugby league mad as the Brisbane Broncos were the most watched team across the two codes, while the North Queensland Cowboys were the second-highest.
The AFL's highest TV audience team were the Sydney Swans, who equally drew in the same amount of viewership as the Sydney Roosters.
Success on the field in 2018, as well as the NRL taking control of scheduling, has seen strong NSW clubs in the Dragons, Knights and Roosters increase their audience by around 20 percent respectively.
This year the NRL also matched it to the AFL's spectator numbers, recording their highest crowd attendances since 2014.
The average crowd of 15,579 across the season was up 3.8 percent on last years figures, showing the Australian public is still getting behind rugby league.