Sometimes, you’ve got to feel for the NRL.

After giving into the public clamour to bring back Simply The Best , the reception has been mixed to say the least.

Some love the modern take on a cult classic of league culture.

Watch the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership on KAYO. Every game of every round LIVE & Ad-Break Free during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Others, meanwhile, reckon that the advert is full of box-ticking as the game seeks to be more poltically correct.

Whatever your view, one thing is for certain: the NRL made a few factual blunders in the resurrection of the iconic ad.

And fans have been quick to point it out.

The NRL, too, have sent updated versions of the advert to different media outlets, but by then the damage had already been done.

MORE NRL NEWS

NRL SPLIT: Mixed reaction to game’s remake of Simply The Best

THROWBACK: The story of how Tina Turner became the face of league

SLATER’S CONCERN: Legend questions talent pool for expansion

The first blunder appears with footage of two actors playing the Trbojevic brothers.

The future Manly stars are throwing a football around in their garden, and in the background footage is playing on a television referencing the Super League war.

***

LISTEN! Anasta & Roach help Countdown 2020

– Tigers’ pack, Panthers’ purring, Ponga’s deal, DCE’s diet & more

ON YOUR PHONE? CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

***

But as one Sea Eagles fan pointed out, Tom Trbojevic was only born in October 1996 when the Super League war was already underway.

The child shown is a toddler, so clearly too old to be Trbojevic.

Hey @nrl just on your new ad for 2020 u do know Tom Trbojevic (born 2 October 1996) pic.twitter.com/l3lp6deMHF — john G (@berkeley_eagle) March 2, 2020

Even if you put the cringeworthy political correctness to one side, the NRL ad is simply the worst due to its litany of factual errors. Sums up @Todd_Greenberg. Sloppy and incompetent. #NRL #NRLad — Bob (@Bob71883551) March 2, 2020

Does the nrl ad have hazem getting chaired off in 2009 but say belmore 2010?? — THE TROOPER (@peewee283) March 2, 2020

The second gaffe the NRL made was by showing a fan at the demonstration to reinstate South Sydney to the competition in 2000.

But Sutton did not debut for the Bunnies until 2004, meaning there could be no jumper with his name on.

John Sutton didn't make his Souths debut until 2004. Source: Twitter

However, an NRL spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: “it’s a metaphor showing Sutton going from angry Souths fan to premiership winner.”

The other inaccuracy the NRL made was including footage of Bulldogs’ fans watching Hazem El Masri’s final game for the club.

The ad claims this Hazem El Masri moment happened in 2009; it was actually 2010. Source: Twitter

The NRL’s caption dates it as 2010, when El Masri’s final Dogs’ game came in the 2009 season.

Simply a mess? You betcha.