I don't have so much of a problem with Ch9 promoting cricket as they have the tv rights to it, and the cricket season doesn't directly compete with the NRL.
However, promoting and making constant references to a rival code (AFL) the NRL is in direct competition with, hosted by a rival tv station (Ch7), is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. That's almost as geniused as McDonalds doing advertisements congratulating KFC and telling viewers the benefits of KFC's chicken wings, or Coca-Cola doing likewise with Pepsi, Sydney Morning Herald praising Rothfield/Wilson/Hooper et al for their journalistic efforts at the Telegraph etc. Do you really think Dennis Commetti, Bruce McAvaney et al at Ch7 give a stuff about Ray Warren, let alone the NRL? I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest that some AFL lackey in Ch9 management last night was passing notes to Ray Warren during the broadcast, to make sure he said what was given to him. We all know Ch9 is filled with pro-AFL people at higher levels of management.
Reminds me a lot of the time when Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt went to the AFL a few years ago, how on The Footy Show at the time, Fatty would say things like "Oh, I regularly tune in to watch AFL matches. It is a fantastic game and look forward to seeing the brilliant skills that Folau and Hunt can show next year". The comments felt so contrived and unnatural, it had AFL lackeys at Ch9 written all over it (i.e. Fatty was told before the show or during the ad breaks what to say). And sadly, the NRL folk sell out for the money so they can continue with their nice cushy 6-figure jobs. It's like the cash-for-comment version of the term 'casting couch'.
