Ryan Hoffman has ignited the code war after revealing some people within the AFL privately told him the NRL's State of Origin atmosphere at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is better than their own Grand Final.
The former NSW Blues forward, who was part of the 2014 series win, made the explosive claim on the latest episode of The Boardroom.
The former Melbourne Storm backrower attended the game, saying conversations with AFL people he knows left him no doubt that rugby league's marquee interstate clash produces an energy that even Australia's other football codes can't match.
"I was talking to a couple of AFL guys to get their opinion around Origin, and I asked, 'How does it compare to an AFL Grand Final?' and they all said it was a 'heap better' because they tend to think the AFL Grand Final atmosphere is 40% corporate," Hoffman revealed.
"Probably 90% on Wednesday night was purely rugby league fans.
"They said how it was a spectacle at night because of what they can do with the pre-game entertainment."
Co-host of The Boardroom, Chad Townsend, also went to Melbourne for Game 2 as a commentator for SEN Radio and revealed what he thought of the atmosphere.
"It was fantastic, full credit to the NRL and the MCG for putting on such a magnificent spectacle," he expressed.
"The MCG is a fantastic venue for Origin, so many Melbourians and MCG members just turning up and taking place in their seats and obviously making most of an opportunity to go and watching Origin in Melbourne."
91,676 fans attended, shattering the previous State of Origin record of 91,513 in 2015.
For AFL purists, the comments will be a bitter pill to swallow.
The day-time AFL Grand Final is their jewel in the crown, drawing crowds north of 90,000 and commanding a huge television audience on the Australian sporting calendar.
Despite that, Hoffman made a huge statement after Chad Townsend saw the newspapers the next day with Origin on the front and back as Queensland tied up the series in Melbourne.
"Rugby league has always gone away from Melbourne as the opposition or the challenger code. It's the as-well code."
Although Townsend is envious of the AFL spectacle as a daytime event, there's no denying that rugby league in Melbourne has a presence, and even people inside the AFL sphere have cast their vote for Origin as the better event.
The rugby league faithful will have plenty of ammunition heading into the series decider.
