Australia’s National Rugby League was a game in crisis. After the 2018 Grand Final, an unprecedented eight triple-centurions hung up their boots and the off-season was immediately dominated by highly-publicised player controversy.

In the midst of what the media were calling the “off-season from hell”, the NRL needed to prove to fans that there was still something to be proud of in their game, and at their club.

The new season represented an opportunity for a new generation of talent to make their mark on the game.

So we made 2019 the beginning of the New Era of rugby league, selecting twenty emerging players from each of the sixteen men’s teams and (for the first time NRL history) from each of the four women’s teams as well.

We then created a series of content that connected these players to the cultures and communities they represent on the field, giving fans of each and every club a figurehead for the future of the game - someone whose new face, new personality and new skill-set truly captured the new spirit of rugby league: as humble as it is exciting.

The NRL fanbase is split into two distinct halves: avids and casuals. So the campaign it needed to work on two different levels at the same time.

The campaign was designed with a simple story at its heart: the emergence of new talent. This story appealed to the casual fans of the game (showing them who they should be looking out for next season) but was also fleshed out with the player insights and club-specific cultural references that would engage the avid fans too.

The launch TVC gave fans a first-look at the new era players, and then a longer-form social series brought these individual stories to life.

Each story was deeply embedded in authentic club and community culture, showing fans who the players were…and what they were playing for.

Whether it was Melbourne Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr’s close connection to the sporting pedigree of his grandfather, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Lewis’ determination to step out from the shadows of his “immortal” uncle, or Brisbane Broncos fullback Jamayne Isaako’s obsessive after-dark kicking routine, fans were given all-new levels of insight into the emerging talent at their club.

As soon as it launched, the “New Era” platform was embraced by every level of the NRL (from grassroots fans to CEO Todd Greenberg) - and amplified by every media outlet in the country.

The campaign marked the 2019 Premiership Season as a true turning point for the game, and drove a positive sentiment of 61% during a time of constant backpage scandal.

Advertising Gurus Matthew Bywater and Adam Ferrier also spent 4 minutes on a national news program talking to the “strong and gutsy” tone that lay at the heart of the campaign, verifying it as a “good first step” for the NRL.

The social series alone quickly racked up some 1.65 million views - more than 5 times the total number of NRL club members in Australia - and the NRL has already committed to expanding the series across further players across the 2019 season.