Super Sunday the perfect finale to an historic season

A full house at CommBank Stadium on Sunday for four epic Pacific Championships Test matches puts the exclamation mark on a historic season that launched in March when rugby league took Las Vegas by storm.

From record crowds for the first ever three-game women's State of Origin series to record TV ratings for a phenomenal NRL season, the game has ridden the crest of a wave from March 3 at Allegiant Stadium all the way through to November 10 at CommBank Stadium.

The first event in an ambitious five-year deal to take the game to America, a crowd of 40,746 – a record for a rugby league game on American soil – attended the season-opener at Allegiant Stadium, with tickets for the showcase purchased in 31 counties around the world. 

In addition to the Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs game receiving a viewership average of 61,000 on Fox Sports 1 in the USA, the Roosters v Broncos match which followed broke a spate of domestic viewership records in Australia, including being the most watched Round 1 game on record. 

“Some of the performance metrics point to early success of the NRL’s US strategy. It is a long-term strategy, but the early signs are positive and encouraging," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said. 

“The amount of travelling fans made the experience very special and the clubs and players put on some great football."

And when it came to great football, no one did it better than the all-conquering Panthers, who became the first team since St George in the 50s and 60s to win four premierships on the trot.

Even with champion playmaker Nathan Cleary missing half the season due to injury, the Panthers found a way to win 17 of 24 matches during the home and away campaign before disposing of the Roosters, Sharks and Storm during the finals series to etch their names in folklore.

Also claiming a piece of history in 2024 were Ali Brigginshaw and her Queensland Maroons teammates who bounced back from a loss in Game One to claim victory in the first ever three-game women's Origin series.

Watched by a record women's Origin crowd of 25,492 at Suncorp Stadium the Blues snared the series opener before the Maroons hit back on a wet night in Newcastle thanks to a Lauren Brown field goal with two minutes to play.

Remarkably, the crowd record set in Brisbane was bettered in Newcastle with 25,782 fans braving the conditions to witness a thrilling contest that went right down to the wire.

Heading to Townsville for the decider it was Queensland who reigned supreme in front of another bumper crowd of 22,819 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

With the Melbourne Storm riding high at the top of the NRL table the men's State of Origin series headed to the southern capital for Game Two, where the second biggest crowd in Origin history (90,084) turned out to see a dominant Blues side square the series before going on to win it in Brisbane.

That stunning attendance at the mecca of Australian sport typified the passion the game engendered in 2024, with crowds up 5% on 2023 and the quality of the product ensuring fans were in for a treat everywhere from Suncorp Stadium to Allianz Stadium and Leichhardt Oval.

“The 2024 NRL season is the most watched and attended season in rugby league history,” Mr Abdo said the day after Penrith's grand final triumph. “Fans have responded to the amazing football which has translated into more people playing and watching the game than ever before.”

In a remarkable achievement the New Zealand Warriors became the first club to achieve a grand slam of sold-out home games in a season.

On the back of their emotion charged run to the preliminary final in 2023, Warriors fans couldn't get enough of their team, packing out Go Media Stadium on 10 occasions and also a home game against Canberra in Christchurch.

All may not have gone to plan for the Warriors on the paddock but the arrival of four-time premiership winner James Fisher-Harris should ensure they are back among the contenders in 2025 and their legion of loyal fans have plenty to shout about.

From the Warriors and Bulldogs to the Roosters and Storm, all will again be chasing the Panthers, who leave their sacred turf to play their home games at CommBank Stadium while a new and improved Penrith Stadium is built.

But before the premiers make the 36km journey across town for the new season, CommBank Stadium will come alive today for a smorgasbord of international action with the Pacific Cup titles on the line and promotion-relegation battles to be fought.

A day of high drama and high-class football to draw the curtain on a season that will always hold a special place in the game's history.