"SOAP opera," an AFL chief once informed me, "is about the only thing rugby league does better than us" - a reference to the daily column inches and air time devoted to dramas in the codes.
Whereas the AFL seeds stories in the main news outlets in Melbourne, in a sophisticated version of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's "feed the chooks", NRL strategies to promote itself are usually overtaken by a player self-destructing.
In a week where the NRL is entitled to boast every game in round 25 counts, Sharks lock Greg Bird dominated news, while the AFL's last regular season weekend is a non-event and the code's former hero, Wayne Carey, is no longer the most recent star involved in a drama relating to a girlfriend.
While NRL chief executive David Gallop despairs, it has been left to the bookies to draw attention to the NRL's penultimate round and the AFL's final round.
"This weekend is a promoter's dream for the NRL," says Lasseters' Gerard Daffy, "while it's a nightmare in the AFL."
In the AFL, the top weight has been decided; the minor premiership won; the wooden spoon awarded; the top three positions sorted and only fourth spot is to be claimed.
In the NRL, the Storm looks likely to claim the top regular season prize. Four teams are challenging for fourth spot, including the Dragons, who could claim it or miss the eight altogether. At the wrong end, the Cowboys and Bulldogs battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
"It could be one of the few occasions where bookies hold more on the NRL than on the AFL," Daffy says.
"There are a few AFL games which don't matter, including Hawthorn (second) versus Carlton (11th), with Hawthorn playing the Bulldogs (third) the following weekend in the semis.
"Hawthorn may rest players, meaning there could be more interest in two full-forwards going for the ton than the game itself."
(Hawthorn's Buddy Franklin needs two goals to reach 100 for the season, while Carlton's Brendan Fevola requires eight for his century.)
The Swans (eighth) host Brisbane (10th), usually a blockbuster betting game, but Sydney coach Paul Roos has suggested he might rest players.
"Punters won't back the Swans until they see who plays," Daffy says, "but the match is a fizzer for Brisbane punters anyway, with suggestions Jonathan Brown won't play and the reported turmoil between the players and the coach."
Daffy said AFL betting traditionally focuses on the big three - the premiership, the final eight and the wooden spoon - all of which have been decided, at least according to Geelong fans, who see their team in line for a second flag in as many years.
"There are different levels of betting activity in the NRL, where the minor premiership is big," he said.
While the Storm only has to keep winning to clinch a third consecutive minor premiership, the NRL wooden spoon battle is absorbing.
"The Cowboys are two points in arrears but they have the bigger points differential on the Bulldogs (170 to 317)," Daffy says.
"If the Cowboys get a win in the last two weeks (versus Raiders at home and Sharks away), the Bulldogs get the wooden spoon."
Compare this with AFL over past seasons, where teams have been accused of deliberately losing in order to win draft choices.
In the NRL race, the Roosters, safely in the eight, play the out-of-contention Rabbitohs tonight but it is critical for the Roosters' tenuous hold on a home semi-final, and the match is the anniversary of the meeting of these two foundation clubs in the code's first finals match 100 years ago.
Sounding more like a fan than an administrator as a tumultuous week comes to a close, Gallop admitted he was relieved to leave his desk for the sanity of the stadium, saying, "The doom and gloom merchants are out in force but the fact remains fans want their team to be in contention and be part of the pain and pleasure of finals footy."
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