Content creators have become increasingly influential around sport, but few have thrown their support behind teams, let alone international ones.
Nathan Durkin, more commonly known as Rugby League Guru, is changing that, becoming the first content creator and podcaster to directly sponsor an international rugby league team after signing a five-week partnership with Tonga for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
Speaking to B&T, Durkin can’t wait to be the “first one to dive into” the international format.
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The deal will see the Rugby League Guru brand appear on the back of Tonga’s playing shorts throughout the World Cup, covering a minimum of three matches and potentially extending to two additional finals games.
Durkin confirmed the deal is a substantial amount, representing a significant personal investment from the creator who has built the Rugby League Guru brand through podcasting, social media and video content.
But for Durkin, the decision to put his own money behind an international team was about more than simply getting his brand on a pair of playing shorts.
It was about backing the international game, and particularly one of the nations he believes deserves greater support. More on that below.
But in his eyes, it is all worth it to try and promote the game that has given him “absolutely everything”.
“We are going to find ourselves in some trouble if in 10 years time State of Origin is still our peak game,” he told B&T.
The annual tri-series grudge match between the NSW Blues and QLD Maroons remains one of rugby league’s biggest commercial and broadcast properties, with each game delivering mammoth TV ratings.
What makes State of Origin appealing to audiences is the unpredictable nature of who is going to come out on top. Not to mention, both teams are stacked with the best players in the NRL.
Which is true for the International game, but up until know it has traditionally been a three horse race.
“Every international competition in rugby league that we’ve had since I’ve been growing up has essentially been tailored to make sure Australia play New Zealand or England in the final,” Durkin explained.
“This World Cup incoming is going to be the turning point of international rugby league. We are coming into this competition with four or five teams that can genuinely win this competition.”
It begs the question, if Durkin is backing the International game, why has he selected Tonga?
For the Rugby League Guru, the answer is both personal and strategic.
Durkin grew up in Mascot in Sydney’s south, where a large portion of his school friends were Tongan. While his connection to the culture predates his career in rugby league media, he says his growing understanding of the role Pacific nations play in the game made Tonga an obvious choice.
“When I was a kid, there was probably 10 to 15 per cent Polynesian players in the NRL, that number is over 50 per cent at this point, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon,” said Durkin.
And this big number of Polynesian players in the NRL has rugby league pundits “assuming Tonga is this huge country when, in reality, it’s not”.
Having travelled with the Kangaroos on last year’s Ashes tour, the Rugby League Guru saw first-hand the gap in resources between the international game’s haves and have-nots.
“Fifteen full-paid staff that were there on that tour,” he said. Which he added is much more than the Tongan side.
It’s a gap he believes fans rarely see. Tonga’s squad may be stacked with NRL talent, but “they are just on a tier down as far as how everything’s set up”, and backing the nation is his “little way of trying to give back.”
A new era
While content creators and media personalities are becoming increasingly common around rugby league, Durkin said he cannot identify another creator who has taken the step of becoming a direct commercial sponsor of an international side.
Rather than simply receiving media access, attending games or creating content around a team, Durkin has paid for a formal sponsorship position on Tonga’s playing kit.
Durkin approached Tonga himself, beginning a process that took around 12 months to complete. The initial conversations were met with some hesitation as the Tongan organisation worked out exactly what a partnership with a rugby league content creator could look like.
The result is a sponsorship that works differently from a traditional sports partnership.
Durkin is bringing his own audience, production capabilities and established relationships with players, while Tonga gains another avenue to tell its story throughout the World Cup.
He plans to travel to games with a videographer, producing content around the team, its players and the Tongan community throughout the tournament.
For Durkin, that content opportunity is one of the key reasons the partnership makes sense.
With this platform he plans to help spread the Tongan culture.
“A big part of it for me, is getting in there and being able to tell not only the Tongan 2026 World Cup story, but to be able to tell the cultural story as well,” he said.
“Part of that is being able to tell the stories of the players themselves as, and to be able to tell it through an Aussie lens that Australians can understand which can make it more relatable as well.”
