The Telstra Premiership has tonight recorded the highest regular season attendance in the game’s history.<br><br>Tonight’s crowd of 35,112 for the match between Brisbane and Canberra took the overall attendance for Telstra Premiership matches this season to 3,081,849.<br><br>That mark surpassed the previous best of 3,061,338, set in the 20-team ARL competition in 1995. Earlier today attendances surpassed the previous NRL record of 3,024,149, set in 2007.<br><br>The 2009 Telstra Premiership will also record its second highest ever average attendance (16,051), after the 2005 season (16,466). <br><br>It is only the second time in the code’s history that the regular season average has surpassed 16,000.<br><br>“Thank you to all our members and fans for your support of the Telstra Premiership this season and to our players, coaches and officials who have made it all happen,” NRL Chief Executive, Mr David Gallop, said tonight.<br><br>“Considering the challenges we have faced this year, this is a reminder of how important our game is to people.<br><br>“We now have a great finals series to look forward to over the next month and I would like to wish all our Telstra Premiership and Toyota Cup finalists the best of luck.”<br>