Press kit
Rugby League Director
The management game rugby league never got: pick the 17, call the plays and wear the result, in a league you run with your mates. It plays in the browser and installs to a phone from a link.
Fact sheet
| What it is | A rugby league club management simulation with a live, top-down 2D match engine |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Any modern browser on phone, tablet or computer. Installs to the home screen as a web app. No app store, no download |
| Status | Invite-only alpha. Waitlist opened 8 November 2026 |
| Price | Free during the alpha. The first 20 on the list play free for life |
| Competition | Twenty clubs: every club of the 2027 season, plus the PNG Chiefs and the Pasifika Wayfinders. 150 players by name |
| Ways to play | Solo career; online leagues where friends take clubs and the AI coaches the rest; live head-to-head versus |
| On game day | Name the 17, set seven tactical dials, make interchanges and tactical changes while the match is live |
| Running the club | A $15.6 million salary cap, contracts, player development, and a board that sets a target and can sack you |
| In development | A Super League edition, women's competitions, Nines, international sides, and one coach ranking across both hemispheres |
| Independence | An independent fan project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the NRL, the RFL, Super League or any club |
| Contact | hello@theburrow.digital |
In fifty words
Rugby League Director is a football-manager-style game for rugby league. Coach one of twenty clubs, set the team sheet and tactics, manage the cap, and watch every match play out live in 2D. Run a league with friends, where the AI coaches every unclaimed club. It runs in any browser. No download.
Why now
- Association football has had deep management games for forty years. Rugby league has had a handful, all for the PC, and none built around playing with friends on a phone.
- The best documented peak for a rugby league management game is about two dozen people playing at once. We publish that record, and our own live figures, on the numbers page.
- The match on the home page is the real engine simulating a game in the visitor's browser. It is not a video, and no two visitors see the same match.
Screenshots
Captured from the alpha. Free to use in coverage of the game. Select an image to open it at full size.
Community
The site carries an Acknowledgement of Country, a men's health section with free helplines for Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and a link to Jai Arrow's Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser. Rugby League Director takes nothing from any donation.
Join the alpha listClub, venue and player names describe the real-world competition the game simulates; no affiliation is implied. Rugby League Director acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and pays respect to Elders past and present.