sport news How megastar singer Tina Turner changed Australian rugby league NRL forever ... trends now
As the world mourns the loss of the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll', Tina Turner, rugby league is remembering her for fronting one of the greatest marketing campaigns in Aussie sport history.
Turner, 83, died at home in Switzerland after a long illness, with tributes pouring in from across the world for the much-loved 12-time Grammy winner, who was given a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 after one of the greatest careers in music history.
Known for such hits as 'Nutbush City Limits', 'Proud Mary' and 'River Deep - Mountain High', it was 'The Best' that league fans will remember most fondly Down Under.
The American megastar was recruited by NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) in 1988 to head up a campaign for the iconic Winfield Cup, which, at the time, organisers felt was becoming stale and not appealing to fans who weren't middle-aged men.
Enter legendary NSWRL chief John Quayle, advertising guru Jim Walpole and Australian Rugby League (ARL) boss Ken Authurson, with the singer's management agreeing to front 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 leading role in helping footy turn the corner when it was struggling
Turner featured in the campaign alongside iconic, and noticeably good looking, Sharks centre Andrew 'ET' Ettingshausen
The singer performed at the 1993 grand final, and is pictured with the victorious Broncos side after the match
Vale, Tina Turner. The 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' died at her home in Switzerland aged 83 after a long illness
Turner first changed the direction of rugby league with the 1989 campaign featuring 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 ad, filmed in Australia and featuring all the game's top players, that now eternally sits in NRL folklore.
'The Best' is now synonymous for many Aussies with rugby league, because it changed the game
