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'Great banter': Fans pull 'sensational' NRL crowd prank

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Photos of hilarious images of dogs (pictured left) and UK politician Dominic Cummings (pictured right) used as part of the NRL cardboard crowd initiate.
NRL fans have pulled an all-time prank after sending in hilarious images of dogs (pictured left) and UK politician Dominic Cummings (pictured right) to be used as part of the cardboard crowd initiate. (Twitter)

The return of the NRL brought the sporting community together from all over the world, but an all-time prank from fans has left some in stitches.

The NRL reached out to fans ahead of the season’s restart, during the coronavirus pandemic, and offered them a chance to send in their photo to be used as a cardboard cut out in the empty stadium.

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But eagle-eyed fans spotted numerous pranks littered throughout the seats during the Rabbitohs and Roosters clash on Friday night.

One included a fan excited to see his dog feature on national television.

Another prank has gone global after fans used their $22 to send in a photo of Boris Johnson’s top advisor Dominic Cummings.

Cummings is fighting for his career after travelling from his London home to Durham and back during the coronavirus lockdown.

Fans from the UK switching on to catch some sport couldn’t help but have a laugh at the ‘Aussie banter’.

One fan even asked for Agent Smith, from the movie The Matrix, to be used throughout the crowd.

But overall, there was just some fantastic photos used in the crowd.

NRL world divided over virtual crowd

One issue that is particularly divisive for fans is the use of artificial crowd noises to complement the broadcast.

Obviously with no supporters inside the stadiums, the match broadcasts lose that special atmospheric quality that only comes from the sounds of thousands of fans screaming uncontrollably from the stands.

So Fox Sports have introduced artificial crowd noise into the broadcast, providing a constant background of generic crowd sound effects to complement the coverage.

The lack of crowd noise was particularly noticeable in round two of the NRL and Fox Sports is adamant that its inclusion makes for a better audience experience.

“The stars of the game are the players, not the audio effects. But having them makes for a better experience,” Fox Sports’ head of television Steve Crawley said.

“What we add will be subtle so we can still hear big hits and players communicating.

“Our audio guys have developed a world-class solution to a unique problem and we think it will be adopted elsewhere during this time.”