Our research established that while most Australians had deep connections to the game, whether through family or grassroots participation - many had drifted from interest in the Premiership season.

By tapping into club identity, connecting it to place and personal history, and giving fans something they could be proud of, we realised that large scale murals were key to bridging pre-season above-the-line advertising and grassroots advocacy.

We commissioned a series of permanent murals that tackled timely, controversial, and iconic stories in the game, among them this one in Inner Sydney’s Redfern.

The first of a series, it honours the return of South Sydney Rabbitohs star player Greg Inglis from injury. Emblazoned with ‘DEADLY’ (‘awesome’ in Indigenous Australian vernacular), the portrait is located in the home of Australia’s Indigenous rights movement. The local area is renowned for its heritage-protected murals celebrating Aboriginal culture and pride.

We worked with Artist Sid Tapia, and in consultation with Indigenous leaders, to create a mural that would become part of the fabric of local community.

Launched during the Festival of Indigenous Rugby League, at neighbouring Redfern Oval, it became the site of celebration, reminiscence, even a wedding.

With over 18,000 engagements on social, seen by 17,500 people on an average day and with millions of impressions both online and off, the mural took on a life beyond the immediate neighbourhood. Most importantly, we gave fans something to be proud of again, with overwhelmingly positive social sentiment.

Led by the ‘This Is How We League’ campaign and club murals like ‘DEADLY’, the 2018 NRL season has seen attendance, viewership and club membership trending upwards across the competition.

Round One attendance in particular increased by 41,709 YoY (a 41.3% increase YoY), making it the biggest season launch since 2011.

This campaign uses a traditional mural - which are typically permanent and revered cultural landmarks in the community - to react in a tactical way to timely stories and controversies in the 2018 National Rugby League season.

The NRL identified 5 million lapsed fans who they needed to reconnect with, based largely in the suburbs of Sydney that were once Rugby League strongholds.

In particular, we wanted to reach a younger 20-35 year old audience. While the NRL is known for a heavy-hitting TV campaigns, we knew out-of-home and social were going to be key to reaching audiences who were disengaged from traditional media.

And for audiences grown weary of governing bodies, it was also important that the creative not feel “top down” or heavily branded. Spectacular murals - painted by hand in permanent locations not ordinarily used for advertising - became the perfect way to engage these fans, and ensure organic spread on social.

Australia’s National Rugby League has had its share of scandal, bullshit and noise in the last few years.

So in the lead up to the 2018 Premiership, we needed to return the faithful to the fold.

Our approach was to unlock their pride in league, to remind them what they love about it, and help them claim it back.

We set out to engage fans with the stories that really mattered - not the controversies - and give their passion a focal point that spanned the real world and social media.