- NRL draw for all clubs released this week
- Clubs took to social media to promote it
- Manly’s effort was hailed as one of the best
The Manly Sea Eagles took a different approach to promoting the 2024 NRL draw by asking players to draw their opponents’ logos for a social media video – with hilarious results.
With the 27-round draw announced on Tuesday, including the groundbreaking opening round with two matches in Las Vegas, clubs have been getting creative in sharing their draw with their fans.
The challenge for the Sea Eagles players was simple: draw the opposition logo from memory every round.
For some players, like star guard Tom Trbojevic, the mission was simple. All he had to do was write the word “BYE” for the club’s bye rounds.
Flying winger Jason Saab released a pretty decent version of the Melbourne Storm logo
Is this supposed to be a Tiger? Jake Arthurs’ attempt at the Wests Tigers logo failed, but Reuben Garrick was quite happy with his Eels logo.
Some, like center Reuben Garrick, performed admirably, with his version of the Parramatta Eels logo coming pretty close to the mark.
Other efforts left much to be desired.
Tommy Talau tried to get creative when he was tasked with designing the Penrith Panthers logo and came up with a design that more closely resembled the characters from Where the Wild Things Are.
Forward Austin Dias’ attempt at drawing the Canberra Raiders logo looked more like a cat while halfback Jake Arthur’s attempt at the classic Wests Tigers logo looked nothing like a tiger.
But it was good fun, with fans praising the club for their efforts.
“Every game preview you post should feature the appropriate Sea Eagles logo versus the one drawn by the players,” one fan suggested.
“Elite content once again. We at least run social media,” added another.
“This wins the internet forever,” replied another.
Promoting the NRL draw in a unique way has become a trend across clubs, all of whom have taken different approaches to the task.
The North Queensland Cowboys have used the adorable children of prop Reuben Cotter and star center Valentine Holmes as a cute way to share their draw with fans.
Melbourne Storm took to the streets to get random fans to announce their draw.
But perhaps one of the best efforts was that of the Parramatta Eels.
The club assembled a series of popular internet memes and songs to align with their opposition with hilarious results.
While the Sea Eagles have a reasonably favorable draw, clubs like Souths, Parramatta and Melbourne Storm have tough missions ahead.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo insists every effort was made to ensure the 2024 season draw was fair
The NRL season begins with the high-profile doubleheader in Las Vegas on March 3, but the first set of matches on Australian soil begins the following week, with chief executive Andrew Abdo defending the decision to host the first game in Newcastle .
“It’s an unusual year because we actually had two first rounds,” Abdo said following reports that broadcasters were unhappy with the game on a Thursday night.
“We have two matches the week before in Vegas, then we have the rest of the first round at the traditional venue.
“It’s an opportunity to do something different this year. There are a number of blockbusters in the early rounds, and the first round features a number of great matches.
“The opportunity for us to play at McDonald Jones Stadium and see the Knights kick off the season by hosting the Raiders in a rematch of that exciting game we saw in the final series is pretty exciting for our fans.”
Meanwhile, Abdo says things have been put in place to ensure player burnout does not become a factor in 2024.
The pre-season challenge begins on February 15, with the international window likely to end in November after a 27-round season and four weeks of finals as well as the State of Origin.
