Just a week after being blindsided by the NRL's broadcast agreement with Channel Nine, Rupert Murdoch - the man who started the Super League war to gain control of the code - hit back by telling a press conference to announce News Corp's deal with AFL: "We have always preferred Aussie rules".
Murdoch, who arrived in Australia last Monday as the NRL was outlining details of its $925 million free-to-air deal with Nine, clearly didn't appreciate being forced to play second fiddle for the rights to a code he only agreed to relinquish control of when the ARL Commission was formed three years ago. 
In a show of strength after appearing to have been outmanoeuvred by the NRL, the AFL wheeled out Murdoch, Seven chairman Kerry Stokes, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn and executives from their media companies to a press conference to announce the $2.508 billion, six-year deal.
The size and haste of the deal are indications of how angered Murdoch must have been as there is a belief that News Corp paid well beyond market value for the AFL rights. NRL officials could not recall Murdoch ever attending a press conference when he began the three-year Super League war in 1995 after failing to secure any rights to the code for his pay-TV venture or when News Corp maintained its stranglehold on the game from the 1998 peace deal to 2012.
It was also pointed out that News Corp still own a majority stake in the Brisbane Broncos and Murdoch's son Lachlan is a passionate and influential supporter of the club.
"We have always preferred Australian rules but, I guess, we will engage with the NRL in time," Murdoch said. "However it ends up, this will be a much bigger investment. We have always believed this is the premium code in Australia. It is the national game and we are putting our money where we believe but we are also committing all our platforms' support in AFL everywhere in every state.
"We are very happy to be doing this. We believe in the strength of the game and we will do everything we can to make it stronger."
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson also sent a warning to the NRL by declaring the company would do everything it could to help AFL's expansion into league's heartland.
"We will ensure that more people see more games of football and its reach is extended, particularly in NSW and Queensland, where there is obviously a growth opportunity and there is a growth opportunity because this is just a wonderful game," Thomson said.
After securing the record free-to-air deal with Nine, worth $185 million per year, the NRL now hopes to gain a similar amount from Fox Sports for the exclusive rights to the remaining four matches per week plus the rights to simulcast all eight matches per week.
It is highly unlikely that Fox Sports could afford not to reach an agreement with the NRL as the pay-TV company would risk losing a significant per centage of its subscriber base but Murdoch's comments and his presence at the AFL press conference indicate that negotiations won't be easy.
With the NRL's current $1.025 billion deal with Nine and Fox Sports not due to expire until the end of the 2017 season, it will be up to NRL chief executive Dave Smith and his team of negotiators to hold their nerve. The AFL deal averages out at $418 million per year, with Seven paying $140 million per year for three-and-a-half games per week.
In comparison, Nine's deal with the NRL is worth $185 million per year for four games per week, plus State of Origin.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and his team stepped up negotiations last week after being caught by surprise when the NRL announced a deal for its free-to-air broadcast rights.
The NRL is still has pay-television, digital and international rights to sell and Fairfax Media last week reported that officials were optimistic of achieving more than $2 billion in total over five years.
Key points of the deal
&#183; $2.508bn over six years from 2017.
&#183; $1.3bn from News Corp. Foxtel (jointly owned by News and Telstra) to maintain rights for all nine games.
&#183; $300m from Telstra to broadcast over its planned Telstra TV service and to handsets and digital devices. News Corp will also have the right to sub-license a Saturday afternoon game, believed to be worth around $30 million per season.
&#183; $840m in cash and$60min contra from Seven for an average of 3.5 matches per round free-to-air.