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 outmanouvered 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 $2.508billion, six-year deal.
NRL officials could not recall Murdoch ever attending a press conference, either during the three year Super League war Murdoch began 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.
"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 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 it's 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 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.
The AFL has also now set a target for the NRL of about $1bn for its remaining rights, including pay-tv, digital and international rights. The NRL's current $1.1bn deal, which expires at the end of the 2017 season, is comparable to the current $1.25bn AFL deal.
AFL CEO Gil 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.
Nine Entertainment Co agreed to pay $925m over five years to retain free-to-air broadcast rights to the National Rugby League, double the amount it is currently paying, from 2018. Nine, in the new deal, will broadcast four live NRL games weekly, up from three, and also obtained the free digital streaming rights. The NRL is still in negotiations for pay-television, simulcast and international rights.
Nine had been in the running for a Saturday afternoon AFL game. However, it is understood that the $30m price tag was more than it wanted to pay for a game not considered marquee.
Key points of the deal
$2.508bn over six years from 2017.
$1.3bn from News Corp. Foxtel (jointly owned by News and Telstra) to maintain rights for all nine games.
$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.
$840m in cash and $60m in contra from Seven for an average of 3.5 matches per round free-to-air.