“We lead them, like you lead a horse”: V’landys fires another shot at AFL

The code war between the NRL and the AFL has reached new heights this week, with ARLC Chairman Peter V'landys firing a series of pointed barbs at the rival code in multiple media appearances.

That rivalry took centre stage during a lively appearance on Mick in The Morning with Roo, Titus and Rosie on Triple M, when V'landys was asked about the competition between the NRL and AFL.

“Well, firstly, can you explain what AFL is?" V'landys says as he laughs.

"How can they have a State of Origin? It's all in Victoria, most of the games aren't they?”

The comment immediately set the tone for what has become a week of sharp remarks aimed squarely at the AFL's expense.

Host Mick Molloy chimed in with a cheeky observation:

“You love kicking Victoria in the balls, you really do! You like taking a big chunk out of the Melbourne sporting market, don't you?”

V'landys was quick to frame the tension as healthy competition rather than simple animosity.

”No, we give them competition. As you say, competition lifts all boats.

"It's actually lifted the AFL… they've come out of their slumber!

"They're soon going to wake up and have a go – they're looking at India now.

"They should not be scared of competition.

"We lead them, like you lead a horse. We lead them through.

"What's this Gather Round? What are they gathering? Rocks of stones! They've got Gather Round… they've copied Magic Round.”

His swipe at the AFL's 'Gather Round', a festival-style event modelled on the NRL's popular Magic Round, was one of the broader digs this week, highlighting how V'landys believes rugby league innovation outpaces its rival's idea.

The sideshow comments didn't stop there.

Amid the NRL's announcement of record revenue figures for the year, V'landys took another opportunity to underline the rivalry, using the league's fiscal success as a direct contrast with its rival code's performance.

He delivered fresh swipes at the AFL's strategies during associated briefings while trumpeting the league's achievements in revenue growth.

Beyond judgements of venues and concepts, V'landys has also used humour to aim the AFL in more unexpected ways.

On his flight to Vegas, he was quick to take a shot at the AFL when he was asked about the aeroplane issues, joking that the next time he would, “make sure that the plane's not serviced by the AFL engineers”.

“That's what's happened, I think... they've spiked the air conditioner,” V'landys added.

In terms of his comments about Rugby Union on 7News, V'landys spoke about the plan to take rugby league to more countries around the world and the entertainment factor, highlighting how long the ball is in play during an NRL game.

“Markets like Japan and Hong Kong are used to that other game (union) that only goes for 30 minutes, I think it's called rugby union,” he stated.

“So when they see the real game, rugby league, I think we can actually migrate them over.

“The key performance indicator for entertainment is how long the ball is in play.

“In rugby league, it's 60 minutes, in rugby union, it's 30 minutes. So no one would know what hit them in Japan and in Hong Kong when we take the game over.”

Amid all of the rivalry talk, V'landys also emphasised some of the tangible growth areas for the NRL, especially its audacious push into the United States with the Las Vegas season opener, a strategy he says has delivered record engagement.

“We've gone up about 90% in sales for the ‘Watch NRL' [app], which is a big jump," V'landys stated.

"It's at a funny time, unfortunately, because in New York it's about 11 o'clock at night, because we need the times to fit for Australia.

"It's made it the highest rating round of the season in Australia because fans that don't normally watch it have been attracted by the publicity generated by Vegas.

"They've gone from casual fans to engaged fans.

"This year and last year, we had the biggest audience rugby has ever had. Vegas gives us the marketing momentum.”

The NRL have made it clear that their next steps in the United States hope to be in Miami, sharing with The Daily Telegraph how Miami is the next place he wants to take rugby league, emphasising that getting into that market is "very important to us"

Whether these fiery criticisms are part of a broader push to elevate the code's profile or simply V'landys' own combative style, one thing is clear...

The rivalry with the AFL shows no sign of cooling down anytime soon.