AFL fans are usually bragging about the fact their club is the best in the league, and their fans are the most loyal and supportive, but what do the statistics say?

Digital Sports Labs, an Australian website dealing with sports, business and technology, has crunched the numbers, looking at each NRL clubโ€™s social media following to determine which club is, in fact, the most followed across the country.

They looked at each sideโ€™s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers as well as the clubโ€™s YouTube subscribers, and some of the results are a little interesting.

No surprises that the Brisbane Broncos come out on top of the list, with a combined following ofย 953,853 across their social media accounts which dwarfs the rest of the competition.

The second and third teams though will surprise many, with the Melbourne Storm (732,135) and New Zealand Warriors (726,004) well clear of their NSW counterparts.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs (658,996) are the highest ranked Sydney-based team coming in fifth place, with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (472,767) and Parramatta Eels (472,040) neck and neck in seventh and eighth place.

Most Brisbane fans will take this as another feather in their cap in the battle of the cities but it should be considered there are actually nine clubs based in Sydney and their combined total is over 3.5 million fans.

At the other end of the table, the Canberra Raiders have the lowest combined following of onlyย 250,421.

The Newcastle Knights (251,956) have the second lowest following but taking into account their population, it could be considered they are actually doing quite well.

NRL club social media following

# Club Total Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
1 Brisbane Broncos 953,853 649,974 129,513 174,203 163
2 Melbourne Storm 732,135 488,082 118,402 125,651 0
3 New Zealand Warriors 726,004 474,093 99,177 149,393 3,341
4 South Sydney Rabbitohs 658,996 427,741 98,893 132,362 0
5 North Queensland Cowboys 485,808 286,277 73,886 125,645 0
6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 472,767 284,665 89,174 98,928 0
7 Parramatta Eels 472,040 320,528 59,291 92,221 0
8 Wests Tigers 408,234 261,090 79,007 68,137 0
9 Sydney Roosters 383,340 220,455 66,521 94,888 1,476
10 Gold Coast Titans 310,346 194,764 61,492 53,595 495
11 Manly Sea Eagles 307,754 186,913 60,650 59,125 1,066
12 Cronulla Sharks 303,039 165,914 62,995 74,130 0
13 St George Illawarra Dragons 295,822 172,572 57,586 65,664 0
14 Penrith Panthers 258,600 147,297 54,105 56,752 446
15 Newcastle Knights 251,956 151,138 53,266 47,552 0
16 Canberra Raiders 250,421 149,890 49,868 50,663 0

Social media following by state/country

State/Country Total
NSW 3,812,548
QLD 1,750,007
VIC 732,135
New Zealand 726,004
ACT 250,421

Social media following by major city

City Total Population %
Sydney 3,560,592 5,029,768 70.79%
Brisbane 953,853 2,360,241 40.41%
Melbourne 732,135 4,725,316 15.49%
Gold Coast 310,346 638,090 48.64%
Newcastle 251,956 322,278 78.18%
Canberra 250,421 403,468 62.07%

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