KEY POINTS:
The Warriors have enjoyed a massive lift in TV support but they still have some way to go to match the popularity of the All Blacks.
In fact, the nation's favourite rugby league team haven't yet managed to win as many viewers as the knockout rounds of Super 14.
Figures from media company AGB Nielsen show the live TV audience on Sky jumped to 258,000 viewers when the Warriors played the Melbourne Storm on September 14 and then climbed again to 347,000 when they played the Roosters last week in Auckland.
The average audience for Warriors games before the knockout rounds was 124,000, with only 82,000 watching their game against the Sharks on August 16.
The average for the season - excluding last night's semi-final against Manly - is 138,000, which is only a third of the average audience of 410,000 recorded for All Blacks' Tri Nations tests this season.
The All Blacks' opening game in the Tri Nations this year against South Africa was watched live on Sky by 522,000 viewers.
This year's Super 14 final semi-final between the Crusaders and Hurricanes had a live audience of 422,000, with 444,000 watching the final between the Crusaders and Waratahs.
So while the country is seemingly being gripped by Warriors fever, the viewing figures at least show rugby remains our favourite sport by some distance.
Super 14's average audience this year was 216,000, which is more than 60 per cent higher than the average audience enjoyed by the Warriors.
Even comparing just the knockout rounds of the NRL and Super 14, rugby comes out well on top. The Warriors have enjoyed an average audience of 313,000 in the knockout rounds while Super 14's average audience for their showpiece games was 433,000.
But the Warriors can claim to be well ahead of provincial rugby which is slipping into TV oblivion this year. The Air New Zealand Cup has an average audience of just 77,000, with a record low of just 29,000 watching the Bay of Plenty play Counties in August.
"We are delighted for the fans and our commercial partners that our product is attracting such a good following," said Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah.
"It's obvious we are attracting a lot of new viewers, which augurs well for the development of the game in this country."
Meanwhile, interest in the Warriors-Manly clash might have been reaching fever pitch on this side of the Tasman last night, but Australian punters weren't quite so captivated.
Glenn Munsie of Australia's TAB Sportsbet said just A$675,000 had been bet on the match, compared with A$6.3 million on the AFL grand final.
The biggest bet was a whopping $250,000 on the Sea Eagles, while the Warriors had attracted just $100,000 in head-to-head wagers.
Munsie said there was plenty of interest in the Warriors winning by 1-12 points, at a generous $4.10, and he expected the total to double by kick-off.
By mid-afternoon yesterday, Manly were clear favourites with the bookies at $1.40, compared with $2.80 for the Warriors.
