How megastar singer Tina Turner changed Australian rugby league NRL forever with ad campaign
As the world mourns the loss of the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, rugby league Tina Turner remembers her for spearheading one of the largest marketing campaigns in Australian sporting history.
Turner, 83, passed away at home in Switzerland after a long illness, with tributes from around the world for the beloved 12-time Grammy winner, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 following one of the greatest careers in music history.
Known for hits like ‘Nutbush City Limits’, ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘River Deep – Mountain High’, it was ‘The Best’ that fans of the League Down Under will remember most fondly.
The American megastar was recruited by NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) in 1988 to lead a campaign for the iconic Winfield Cup, which organizers said at the time was becoming boring and unappealing to fans who didn’t like middle-aged men goods.
This is where legendary NSWRL chief John Quayle, advertising guru Jim Walpole and Australian Rugby League (ARL) boss Ken Authurson perform, with the singer’s management agreeing to run the campaign – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Tina Turner, pictured playing rugby league on the beach in her legendary 1990 rugby league advert, played a starring role in helping footy round the corner when the going was tough
Turner played in the campaign alongside iconic and strikingly handsome Sharks center Andrew ‘ET’ Ettingshausen
The singer performed at the 1993 Grand Finals and is pictured with the victorious Broncos squad after the game
Vale, Tina Turner. The ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ died at her home in Switzerland at the age of 83 after a long illness
Turner first changed the direction of rugby league with the 1989 campaign with her hit ‘What You Get Is What You See’, which she filmed in the UK alongside Manly great Cliff Lyons and ex-Cronulla hardman Gavin Miller.
But it was her 1990 advert, filmed in Australia and featuring all of the game’s top players, that is now forever enshrined in NRL folklore.
‘The Best’ is now synonymous with rugby league for many Aussies as it changed the game forever.
But not everyone was convinced that a female rock ‘n’ roll star from the US could make an impact on a sport like the competition.
Fortunately, Arthurson, the ARL, and NSWRL didn’t listen to those critics, and Turner, who is famously from Nutbush, Tennessee, would go on to become a footy icon; so much so that she performed the hit at the 1993 grand finale.
“The cost involved was a bit of a risk, but it more than paid for itself with the impact the campaign had,” the ex-ARL boss told the Daily telegram in the wake of Turner’s tragic death.
“Tina, as big as she was, was a pleasure to deal with. No one could do anything but speak highly of her. She was a professional to deal with and totally energetic and warm and bubbly.
“She has taken rugby league to another level. It was the most high profile, successful sports marketing campaign I can remember.
“At the time, rugby league was the most dominant sport in Australia and they took it to another level.”
That ad is so iconic that the NRL brought it back on its 30th anniversary for another go-round featuring the league’s current stars like the Trbojevic brothers, as well as some of its most famous moments since, like Benji Marshall’s flick pass in victory of the Tigers’ fairytale grand final in 2005.
Turner’s iconic sign-off for the Winfield Cup logo from the 1990 commercial that has since gone down in Australian sporting history
The American star was at her comedic best lifting weights alongside male stars Ian Roberts (right) and Matthew Ridge (left)
Tigers legend Benny Elias was one of the many stars of the game who sat next to Turner on the drive, and he said it changed the league and inspired a huge generation of new fans – especially women.
“It was a big deal, the commercial itself was definitely what put rugby league on the map. She brought in women; children involved. You just know when you hear that song, your memory now goes straight to NRL,” he continued 2Day FM’s breakfast show, Hughesy, Ed and Erin.
Elias and fellow Tigers great Wayne Pearce featured in both the 1989 and 1990 ads, the latter agreed to go down as one of the greatest marketing campaigns in sports history.
“Those campaigns have been praised worldwide and they bring back great memories,” said Pearce News Corp recently.
“It resonated with children and women, and rugby league’s popularity has never been greater as a result of those two campaigns.”
Completely revamping rugby league, with ruggedly handsome Sharks icon Andrew ‘ET’ Ettingshausen front and center alongside Turner – rugby league was no longer just a game for the crashers and bashers and their middle-aged fans.
Vale, Tina Turner.