Rivals new sport competition on Kayo Sports – Today, Rexona announced a groundbreaking new sports competition, RIVALS, bringing together Footy’s biggest stars to settle one of Australia’s most enduring sporting debates: which sport is best? The eight part series will premiere on Kayo SPORTS on Sunday 1 March.
Rugby League claims they are the toughest, Aussie Rules the fi ttest, and Rugby Union the most skilful, but we’ve never had a way to compare these three great sports, until now.
RIVALS incorporates science-backed performance challenges, designed in consultation and overseen by the Australian Institute of Sport who acted as the competition’s high performance partner, measuring the athletic fundamentals across the three sporting codes – speed, agility, power, endurance.
To bring the promise of RIVALS to life, Rexona has assembled an elite roster of competitors from across Australia’s three biggest footy codes to battle it out for the RIVALS trophy. The all-star shortlist of competitors, represents the very pinnacle of each sport, superstars of the modern game, who have excelled at the highest levels of their respective games, spanning both men’s and women’s competitions.
Between them, these superstars have claimed 15 premierships across AFL, AFLW, NRL, NRLW, Super Rugby and Super W, six Grand Final best-on-ground medals, including the reigning Clive Churchill Medallist and the past two Norm Smith Medallists, and 11 All-Australian selections alongside multiple Code Team of the Year honours. The line-up also includes two current Australian national team captains, a Mark of the Year winner, a Dally M Medallist as the NRLW’s best player, the most-capped Wallaroos player in history, a Dally M Winger of the Year, an AFL Rising Star winner, an AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year and multiple club Best and Fairest winners.
Their dominance reverberates across Australian sport, from eight State of Origin series wins and a Player of the Year award to club level, with 17 Best and Fairest awards and two Rookie of the Year or Rising Star honours.
Team Rugby League: Reece Walsh (Brisbane Broncos, Australian Kangaroos, QLD Maroons) Josh Addo-Carr (Parramatta Eels, Australian Kangaroos, NSW Blues) Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos, Australian Jillaroos, QLD Maroons) Jaime Chapman (Gold Coast Titans, Australian Jillaroos, NSW Blues)
Team Aussie Rules: Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood Magpies) Will Ashcroft (Brisbane Lions) Monique Conti (Richmond Tigers) Matilda Scholz (Port Adelaide Power)
Team Rugby Union: Joseph Suaalii (NSW Waratahs, Wallabies) Harry Wilson (Brisbane Reds, Wallabies) Ashley Marsters (Western Force, Wallaroos) Desiree Miller (NSW Waratahs, Wallaroos)
Hosted by Fox League’s Lara Pitt and Fox Footy’s Jack Riewoldt
Filmed across eight captivating episodes on Hamilton Island by production partner Ronde Media, RIVALS athletes compete as a team, representing their sport in head-to-head bespoke challenges. With their codes’ reputations on the line, the three teams will compete for points as the leaderboard builds, culminating in a high-stakes elimination Grand Final where the fi nal RIVALS Champions will be crowned.
Australia’s football landscape has long been defi ned by rivalry between its codes, and new national research from Octagon shows those tensions remain deeply entrenched. Aussie Rules and Rugby League fans overwhelmingly nominate each other as their primary rivals, with 81% of Aussie Rules supporters and 71% of Rugby League fans pointing across the code divide, reinforcing one of the country’s most enduring sporting feuds. Rugby Union, however, occupies a different position in the hierarchy. Rather than being seen as a direct rival, it is widely rejected by both sides, with half of Aussie Rules fans and half of Rugby League fans saying there is nothing they like about the code.
In terms of fan loyalty, the research also shows clear differences in how Australians follow each code. Aussie Rules leads on exclusivity, with 19% of Australians identifying as loyal to Aussie Rules alone. This is more than double Rugby League’s single-code base (9%) and nearly ten times that of Rugby Union (2%), whose supporters are the most likely to spread their loyalty across multiple codes.
John McKeon, Chief Marketing Officer at Unilever Australia and Rexona said:
“Australia is home to the most concentrated sports market in the world. We have the best athletes and the most fi erce rivalries, none bigger than Rugby League, Rugby Union and Aussie Rules. Every fan and media outlet has a view on what differs between these great sports, RIVALS provides the ammo to fi nally settle that debate. Rexona has a long history partnering with high performance athletes and high performance sports, the invention of RIVALS is another way to demonstrate what Rexona stands for – performance under pressure.”
Caitlin O’Meara, Foxtel Group Head of Advertising Go To Market Strategy said:
“Rivalries between footy codes are as old as the games themselves and RIVALS taps directly into that passion. This series gives fans a new way to back their code, while bringing together some of the country’s most elite athletes to determine which is the ultimate sport.”
Ali Brigginshaw (Brisbane Broncos, Australian Jillaroos) said:
“It was an honour to be part of RIVALS and to showcase women’s rugby league on such a big stage. Being treated equally and trusted to represent our sport alongside other elite athletes was incredibly special. Learning how each athlete handled pressure situations and how the different codes worked together was interesting and you can really see the rivalry between the codes with everyone’s strong competitive spirit. It was one of the best experiences of my career, creating lifelong friendships and proving why rugby league is the greatest game of all.”
Harry Wilson (Brisbane Reds, Wallabies) said:
“It was a huge honour to represent my code in RIVALS and test myself against some of the best athletes from other sports. The competition brought out everyone’s competitive edge, and it was one of the most enjoyable weeks I’ve had, both on and off the arena.”
Former Aussie Rules star, Fox Footy commentator and series host, Jack Riewoldt said:
“From my experience, this has been a constant debate, so it’s exciting to see a competition that brings a diverse range of talent go head-to-head on an issue that’s sparked national discussion for years. I might be biased, but looking at the talent involved, this is defi nitely one to watch.”
Fuelled by Woolworths, RIVALS empowers fans to back their code through sport-specifi c cans available at local Woolworths stores nationwide. RIVALS premieres Sunday, 1 March 2026, following Fox League’s Las Vegas coverage on Kayo SPORTS, and will also be available on Foxtel.
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Rivals new sport competition on Kayo Sports
