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 Sydney’s Inner West.

After a disastrous 2017 season, the Wests Tigers were starting fresh, with a new coach and the return of iconic player Benji Marshall after five years absence. The forthcoming season heralded new hope for the club, and we wanted to give fans a rallying point for their pride.

Our mural took a throwaway line from new coach Ivan Cleary - “What’s important is [players] want to get on the bus...” - and helped cement it as a rallying cry for the season. A defiant ultimatum to players and fans alike, ‘ON THE BUS’ depicts heroic portrait of star Benji Marshall, who growls fiercely alongside the club’s namesake tiger.

With over 1200 organic social engagements within the first 24 hours, and thousands seeing it offline every day, the mural is quickly becoming a local landmark. Most importantly, we’ve given fans something to be proud of again.

Club membership is even up in 2018, with Wests Tigers club seeing a year-on-year improvement of 4%.

Led by the ‘This Is How We League’ campaign and club murals like ‘ON THE BUS’, 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.