In the late 1980s and early 1990s, rugby league was a code looking to expand nationally after the success of its premier competition in Sydney.  Clubs emerged in Brisbane, Newcastle, and the Gold Coast.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation took the growth in the sport as an indication it ought to expand even further and plotted a coup, to take the running of the code out of the hands of the establishment - the Australian Rugby League.

What followed was a war that ripped the sport apart with Murdoch on one side and the other, backed by another multi-millionaire media mogul, Kerry Packer.  It was mogul against mogul, club against club, and players against players.

In this episode of Judgements we take a deep dive on how and why the war began - and how the game came back together to form what is now the National Rugby League.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.