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AFL claims grand final TV ratings win, but still plenty for V’landys to crow about

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Cite

Walsh, D. (2026, October 5). AFL claims grand final TV ratings win, but still plenty for V’landys to crow about. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/afl-claims-grand-final-tv-ratings-win-but-still-plenty-for-v-landys-to-crow-about-20261005-p612zn.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-05 · by Dan Walsh

Quick Summary

The Australian Football League (AFL) grand final between Brisbane and Fremantle drew an average audience of 4.52 million viewers, surpassing the National Rugby League (NRL) grand final between the Roosters and Newcastle, which had an average of 4.29 million viewers. The NRL game was still the second-highest rated in history for the league, behind last year’s match with 4.46 million viewers. Additionally, the article mentions that the NRL has announced it remains Australia's most-watched sporting code based on cumulative season audience figures, despite the AFL grand final ratings victory.
Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The AFL claimed victory in TV ratings for the most-watched grand final of the season after drawing an average audience of 4.52 million viewers during Brisbane's win over Fremantle on September 26 at the MCG. This surpassed the NRL’s recent grand final between the Roosters and Newcastle, which had an average of 4.29 million viewers despite being a thrilling match that went down to the final play. The NRL game was still the second-highest-rated in league history after last year's Broncos-Storm clash with 4.46 million viewers. This year’s NRL grand final buildup was overshadowed by concerns over pre-game entertainment, which eventually featured a tribute to retiring Rabbitohs star Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles, both diagnosed with motor neurone disease earlier this year.

Written for “AFL Grand Final Ratings” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AFL Grand Final Ratings
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
‘Our fans mean everything to us’: Crash set to cast pall over grand final Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 3 of 42 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A describes a pre-game media conference and an incident affecting the Newcastle team's journey, while Article B discusses TV ratings for the NRL grand final match itself.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5640 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Dan Walsh
17 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 The 26-year-old enforcer has a year left on his contract at the club but is set to link with Parramatta.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · ‘Boots, pompoms’ and premiership bling: Inside Leniu’s kitbag for last Roosters ride
🔮 Ponga is so regularly up in the defensive line these days, or scrambling at marker, Slater contended, that Sam Walker would be looking to exploit it with his short kicking game.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · The tiny grand final moments turned on a dime by NRL’s biggest marquee buys
🔮 Is it with the Knights, who will be playing their first decider in a quarter of a century, or a Roosters side returning after a comparatively short seven-year absence?
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Where does pressure really sit in this year’s grand final? Trent Robinson laughs and taps his temple
🔮 Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity have indicated that Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies and bass guitarist Chris Joannou are both willing to perform as part of grand final day.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Inside the Johns brothers’ GF mission impossible – reuniting Silverchair
🔮 Gee was in charge of the Roosters’ 36-20 preliminary final defeat of the Dolphins on Friday, in which he referred contentious tries to Jamayne Isaako and Rob Toia to the bunker, which were subsequently awarded by video official Ashley Klein, who deemed to not have sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision. Gee has previously officiated the 2023 grand final between Penrith and Brisbane. Incumbent 2025 grand final referee Grant Atkins was overlooked after he did not officiate in either preliminary final, with veteran whistleblower Gerard Sutton overseeing Newcastle’s nail-biting 22-14 defeat of the Panthers on Sunday. Butler was in the bunker for that match.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · NRL appoints grand final referees as Klein and 2025 incumbent miss out
🔮 The Waratahs, meanwhile, told him he would probably have to wait until his early 20s to earn a Super Rugby debut.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Angus emailed the Roosters at 17, begging for a game. Now for a grand final swansong
🔮 Plans are set to be finalised on Monday for trains to run between Newcastle and Sydney, with V’landys forecasting an influx of more than 30,000 Knights fans as ticket sales for Sunday’s decider were exhausted shortly before midday.
2026-09-28 · assertive framing · V’landys intervenes to save thousands of Knights fans from trackwork drama as grand final sells out
🔮 The coaching threads between Justin Holbrook, twice a member of Trent Robinson’s Roosters staff, will be raised more than once this grand final week.
2026-09-27 · assertive framing · The Joey Johns prophecy and Kalyn Ponga shot heard around the NRL world
🔮 “Someone riding a skateboard out the front could do a better job at the moment.
2026-09-27 · assertive framing · NRL’s latest bunker dramas were line-ball. Will the grand final be so lucky?
🔮 “That first year of NRL, I couldn’t really pass left to right at all … it might be an issue again, actually,” he grins, “I’ve missed a lot of footy lately.”
2026-09-26 · assertive framing · Once, he couldn’t even pass left to right. Now Mitch Kenny is critical to Penrith’s title shot
Also by Dan Walsh
‘Boots, pompoms’ and premiership bling: Inside Leniu’s kitbag for last Roosters ride
2026-10-04 · The Sydney Morning Herald
The tiny grand final moments turned on a dime by NRL’s biggest marquee buys
2026-10-04 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Where does pressure really sit in this year’s grand final? Trent Robinson laughs and taps his temple
2026-10-01 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Inside the Johns brothers’ GF mission impossible – reuniting Silverchair
2026-09-29 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 17 articles by Dan Walsh →

Topics

AFL NRL Newcastle OzTAM Roosters

Subjects

NRL ORG · 8× AFL ORG · 3× Roosters ORG · 3× Newcastle ORG · 2× OzTAM ORG · 2× Brisbane GPE · 1× Broncos ORG · 1× NSW GPE · 1× Nine ORG · 1× Voz ORG · 1×

Narrative

This year’s NRL grand final build-up was dominated by consternation around the game’s pre-game entertainment, which was ultimately filled by a musical tribute to retiring Rabbitohs star Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who were both diagnosed with motor neurone disease earlier this year.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
2026-10-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald
AFL claims grand final TV ratings win, but still plenty for V’landys to crow about · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

The AFL has claimed the mantle as this season’s most-watched sporting grand final after trumping Sunday’s NRL decider by about 230,000 viewers. asserted
AFL → claim → viewers
The Roosters’ thrilling 19-18 defeat of Newcastle drew an average audience of 4.29 million for broadcasters Nine (publishers of this masthead), according to Voz viewership figures released on Monday by TV ratings agency OzTAM. uncertain
defeat → draw → OzTAM
With Newcastle’s fairytale run to their first grand final in 25 years and the game going down to the final play, the audience figures were the second highest in NRL history, behind only last year’s record average of 4.46 million for the Broncos-Storm thriller. asserted
figures → go → thriller
But this year’s all-NSW decider still fell short of the AFL’s cross-country grand final between Brisbane and Fremantle on September 26 at the MCG. asserted
decider → fall → MCG
That iconic clash also made history with a record-breaking 4.52 million average audience. asserted
clash → make → audience
This year’s NRL grand final build-up was dominated by consternation around the game’s pre-game entertainment, which was ultimately filled by a musical tribute to retiring Rabbitohs star Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who were both diagnosed with motor neurone disease earlier this year. asserted
who → dominate → disease
Australian artists Amy Shark, The Screaming Jets’ Dave Gleeson and Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson performed a medley of songs before kick-off in the grand final. asserted
artists → perform → final
OzTAM figures indicated an average of 2.25 million viewers tuned in for the pre-game show, which fell in the prime Sunday evening time slot. asserted
which → indicate → slot
There were rave reviews for Kylie Minogue’s performance at the AFL decider, but it drew an average of 1.86 million viewers for the Saturday afternoon slot. asserted
it → be → slot
The strong TV audience for this year’s grand final came as the NRL on Monday proclaimed on social media that “for the sixth consecutive year, the NRL was Australia’s #1 most-watched sporting code”, citing cumulative average audience figures across the NRL season. asserted
NRL → come → season
In July, the NRL sealed a record $5.3 billion, seven-year media rights deal with broadcasters, including Nine Entertainment, Foxtel and New Zealand TV network Sky, until 2034. asserted
NRL → seal → 2034
With one last magic moment, DCE shows he’ll be a Hull of a big loss for the NRL - NRL grand final player ratings: Who shone brightest on league’s biggest day - Despite heartbreaking result, Knights remain the people’s choice asserted
Knights → show → result
- ‘It’s been a sin bin all year’: The Ponga shot on Radley that left Roosters furious asserted
that → leave → Roosters
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