Plenty, when it comes to their acknowledgment that their respective sports, when it comes down to it, are all about the fans.

The Hawks' fairytale story this season is remarkable from many angles. But the key element has been what captain Mat Campbell described as the team's special connection to its fans and the community.

It is something that should never be forgotten.

Sure, sport is big business today. The AFL is reportedly about to embark on negotiations for a new TV rights deal worth in excess of $1 billion. In rugby league, "intellectual property", multimillion-dollar player contracts and media hype are likewise a part of the game.

We don't begrudge that, because, let's face it, the code is so big it cannot be run out of the sheds of a country footy ground.

However, the ongoing success of the code will always depend on those who roll out from week to week.

The AFL's strong club membership model, but more importantly the league's custodianship of an essentially family-orientated sport, has ensured that code's growth.

And the NRL is at an important point in its history as it seeks to cement current loyalties and to reach a new generation of fans.

One person who's views NRL chief executive David Gallop should carefully consider is our own "master coach" Wayne Bennett.

Bennett is virtually without peer when it comes to game planning. He also has a sharp mind when it comes to the future of the game's management, particularly when it concerns looking after those at the grassroots.

For many of us, to borrow the words of former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, sport is more important than a matter of life and death.

Indeed, it is the passion of fans, not the corporate dollar, that underpins sport's place in our lives.

That needs to be strongly reflected in any strategy that seeks to take the highly commercial environment of rugby league into new territory.