On another weekend in which off field behaviour issues made the headlines, it is good to be able to write about what is a genuinely good news story for rugby league.

And it is made even better by the fact it is a bad news story for the AFL!

The AFL has generally avoided putting a match involving the Brisbane Lions up against the Brisbane Broncos on a Friday night resulting in both games being shown on free to air television. And after last Friday night I doubt if they will do it ever again!

The Broncos v Penrith Panthers match was hardly the best draw available, yet in Brisbane it still drew a very impressive audience of 329,000. The delayed match, The Gold Coast Titans v Canberra Raiders game was watched by a very respectable 174,000 viewers.

And how did the Brisbane Lions v Collingwood match fare on Channel Seven? Well it drew a miserable audience of just 85,000!

This result, an outstanding victory for the NRL, builds on the outstanding ratings NRL on Fox has been delivering - trouncing the AFL