ARL boss Peter V'landys believes the NRL's confident and rapid return from its COVID-19-impacted hiatus "saved" the AFL from losing close to one billion dollars.
In what was a successful risk, the NRL returned in late May last year after two months of lockdown, with the proposed return date seen as an implausible accomplishment given the number of cases nation wide.
However, with the Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors both moving away from their respective cities and residing on the east coast of Australia, the NRL was able to pull off a 20-round campaign.
The AFL returned on June 11 after an extended period in lockdown, having played just one round of action prior to state restrictions shutting down the competition.
The 2020 season looked to be hanging in the balance come May, while the NRL looked to be speeding their process up with V'landys' behind the steering wheel.
Soon enough the AFL was able to follow suit, with V'landys taking credit in saving the code's campaign.
“In an unusual way we saved a lot of sports,” V’landys said on the Fox Sports' Matty Johns Face to Face podcast.
“Because a lot of sports were looking at much later dates. They were looking at August-September and the financial losses they would have incurred would have been significant.
“I think the AFL were looking at a billion dollar loss, is what they announced. They made a $24 million loss because they started earlier.
“With all the criticism, with all the name calling, they started two weeks after us.
“So we proved we could be leaders, and we led, and everyone else followed.”
V'landys also looked to hand the AFL a second blow, calling Aussie Rules a "boring sport" that fails to entertain.
“I’ve never been a fan and I don’t want to take anything away from the great athletes of the AFL … they are great athletes and they have to be because it is such a boring sport.
“I can’t get enthused on it, and that’s just me, but there’s a lot of other people that love the sport, but they must love a lot of other boring things too.”
The AFL was able to play out 17 rounds in 2020, including highly congested fixtures that included 33 matches across a 20-day period.
The league was forced to move into hubs for the second half of the season, residing on the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney.