Tempers flare as NRL attendance record shattered

The NRL has broken its regular season attendance record, with 65,305 fans cramming into Accor Stadium for the annual Good Friday clash between Canterbury and South Sydney.

The Bulldogs brought the energy in front of a bumper crowd, delivering a dominant 32-0 win to remain undefeated in 2025 under head coach Cameron Ciraldo.

The Doggies tallied their sixth straight win from six games, equalling their best start to a season since the club’s Premiership-winning campaign in 1938.

“When we ran out, there was a massive roar and I got goosebumps from it,” said Bulldogs forward Josh Curran in a post-match interview.

“Today, breaking the record and seeing all the crowd – it was outstanding.”

Bulldogs’ hooker Reed Mahoney told Fox League it was super exciting to see.

“We didn’t expect 65k and I reckon 60k of them were Bulldogs fans.”

Today’s figure eclipsed the previous record by over 5,000 people.

In a day of records, Canterbury also posted their biggest Good Friday victory over South Sydney, delivering their first shutout of the Rabbitohs since 1973.

It is also first time in the club’s history that the Bulldogs have held opponents scoreless in consecutive matches.

Passions flared towards the end of the historic match in an incident between South Sydney’s Jai Arrow and a group of disruptive Canterbury fans.

Jai Arrow was reportedly the target of verbal abuse after coming off the field in the 65th minute, during the dominant Bulldogs performance.

The Queensland and South Sydney forward responded emotionally to comments from the crowd and was seen to be restrained by club staff, including Souths club legend, John Sutton.

It’s has also been alleged that an object was thrown at Arrow during the heated confrontation.

New South Wales Police officers were seen talking to one of the unruly fans, but no action was taken.

Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett brushed off the incident in his post-match press conference.

“I wish he got upset on the footy field,” Bennett remarked.

“That would have been good… I don’t know anything about it,” he said.

For the moment, neither the NRL nor either club has issued an official statement.