All those non-Victorian states have about the population of Sydney.
And have next to zero major cities outside the capitals.
Major areas in NSW/QLD/ACT outside Sydney & Brisbane:
Canberra - NRL yes, AFL partial
Wollongong - NRL yes, AFL no
Central Coast - NRL bid, AFL no
Hunter - NRL yes, AFL no
Gold Coast - NRL yes, AFL yes
Sunshine Coast - NRL no (but if we're smart we'll capitalise on it), AFL no
Townsville - NRL yes, AFL no
Cairns - NRL no (but if we're smart we'll play a few games), AFL partial
Two of which will have 1,000,000+ populations within 20 years
The AFL states have:
Geelong - NRL no, AFL yes
Hobart - NRL no, AFL partial
Darwin - NRL no (but if we're smart we'll play a few games), AFL partial
In terms of major cities outside the 5 big capitals, advantage is clearly in the NRL's favour.
Shore up the Central Coast, set a timeline for a Sunshine Coast team's entry within 15-20 years, play a number of games in Cairns each year perhaps Sydney teams home against the Cowboys, play a game in Darwin each year (Reds vs Cowboys is my pick), set up a new team in Brisbane, expand to Perth, long term 2nd team in New Zealand in 10-15 years, long term in 15-20 years expand to Adelaide.
In terms of geographic reach, no other sports league would match it.