AFL raid on NRL stars

"There is room for us all ... we don't have an argument with the rugby league."



And then came the bombs.



Just 54 days after the AFL sent Sheedy to Sydney, on what looked suspiciously like a reconnaissance mission, with helicopter and all, the southern raiders sent a scud missile crashing into our shores.



Without warning, Karmichael Hunt crossed enemy lines and became their star recruit.



Paraded before us holding a Sherrin and in a sleeveless jersey, Hunt told us of months of secret talks and lunches with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.



No this wasn't a war - it was an ambush.



But Hunt was only a soldier. A good soldier, but a soldier all the same. Today the AFL dropped their second bomb, and it could potentially cause more damage than the first.



Now the Mexicans have announced Grant Mayer had signed on as second-in-charge of the Western Sydney offensive - and unlike Hunt, Mayer is no soldier.



This former Manly boss is a rugby league general. A man who knows the Western Sydney battleground like Samuel Colt knew guns.



He spent many years in Western Sydney with the Bulldogs as a marketing man before becoming the CEO who led the Sea Eagles to a premiership.



Rated one of the best up-and-coming administrators, Mayer knows rugby league's strengths and also its weaknesses.



And armed with an arsenal of cash, Mayer will now go all Sun Tzu on rugby league.



Andrew Demetriou is building an army. And now he has a weapon capable of inflicting some real damage.



The AFL has already sounded out arguably the game's best administrator, Bulldogs jersey boss Todd Greenberg, and despite their denials are likely to pursue a top-flight rugby league player in the mould of Jarryd Hayne.



Yep, make no mistake, this is war.