ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie has hailed the NRL's scandal-free summer, describing off-field behaviour as the key to growing crowds and the game.

Brisbane and St George Illawarra will kick off the premiership race on Thursday night following the first off-season in recent memory free of fresh stories of player misbehaviour and ugly headlines tarnishing the game's image.

New era: ARLC Chairman Peter Beattie says an improvement in off-field behaviour is encouraging. Credit:Brendan Esposito

The stoush between the clubs and the ARLC over constitutional reform was the only controversy to mar the break and Beattie vowed to resolve that impasse this month.

Total NRL attendance was down by two per cent last year and Beattie pointed out they had remained fairly constant during the past decade.