6 replies to this topic

[R L Winger]

Historic day': new dawn for rugby league begins

Date: February 10 2012

Rugby league has entered a new era with the formation of the Australian Rugby League Commission as the single controlling body and administrator of the game.

The eight-person ARL Commission today officially assumed governance of the game from News Ltd and the ARL after a series of meetings at the new Rugby League Central headquarters at Moore Park, which were officially opened at the same time.

The official handover in the presence of officials from all 16 NRL clubs, senior players, development personnel and representatives of the State Leagues, who will report to the Commission, is the biggest structural change to the running of the game since the formation of the NSWRL in 1907.

Chaired by former Kangaroo and IT industry leader John Grant, the ARL Commission replaces the NRL Partnership between the ARL and News Limited. In doing so, it replaces the existing Partnership Committee and the existing ARL and NRL Boards.

The inaugural Commissioners are: John Grant (Chairman), Catherine Harris AO PSM, Ian Elliot, Peter Gregg, Wayne Pearce OAM, Gary Pemberton AC, Jeremy Sutcliffe and Dr Chris Sarra.

“This is without doubt an historic day for the game,” Mr Grant said today.

“It may have taken a little while longer to get here than some expected but that in itself is testimony to the significance of what is taking place.

“To be ready to bring the Commission 'on-line' as Rugby League Central enjoys its official opening provides a nice synergy at a time when the whole of Rugby League is looking to what we can achieve in the future.

“The Commissioners will act as custodians for the game and are committed to acting in the best interests of Rugby League in an environment that considers all parties but which is not aligned to any one area of the sport.”

The Commission will be based at Rugby League Central, which has been built with Federal and State Government funding, at Sydney's Moore Park.

Only six of the new commissioners were present for the launch all eight have already met on a number of occasions to ensure they are informed on as many game issues as possible.

Grant identified the upcoming TV negotiations as the major priority for the ARLC.

“This is a real opportunity for everyone in rugby league to look for new ways to create opportunity by working together,” Grant said.

“There are an amazing number of positives on which rugby league can capitalise at the moment.

“If you had to look at the most immediate priorities for the commission to consider you would have to say: Broadcaster and sponsorship negotiations; the re-alignment of strategic plans and objectives with the game's new structure; the establishment of a whole-of-game culture from the grass-roots to the Kangaroos and working with the game's management team to develop new opportunities for clubs, players and fans.

“We are certainly fortunate to have an experienced chief executive in David Gallop and skilled management personnel and their areas of responsibility will certainly grow under the commission.

“The commission is made up of a team of incredibly talented people who bring a diverse range of skills to the game.

“Any corporation would be proud to assemble a board of this quality.”

[R L Winger]

[R L Winger]

The new ARL Commission has officially taken control of rugby league.

The ten top things on the agenda are

1. Mid-season transfers

REMEMBER, not all footy stars are one-club players like your man Junior Pearce

Jamal Idris walked out on the Bulldogs last year for the Titans on April 12. Unbelievable.

Think of the kids who bought their Canterbury No. 4 jersey in March last year to support an idol.

Chris Sandow did the same at Souths when he signed with the Eels.

Kade Snowden agreed to terms at Cronulla and told the media how important loyalty to the club was.

He changed his mind an hour later when Nathan Tinkler called and convinced him to join the Knights.

Why can't all this be done in October. It still gives the players six months to find a new club and relocate. Players in soccer switch countries. We're only asking NRL players to switch suburbs or states.

It happens to every employee in the country.

2. Archaic club management

SERIOUSLY John, this is a massive problem. Look at the talent spread on your new board. Why aren't more business heavyweights on club boards.

Clubs with poor administration are holding the game back. Some of them couldn't run a chook raffle, let alone a professional sporting business.

Still too many old front-rowers for my liking.

Look at the rabble that is the Manly board. They won the comp but still didn't make a profit. They've taken their two best games of the season against the Tigers and Storm to Gosford and Perth. Who'd want to be a season ticket holder at Brookie?

The Sharks don't even have a chief executive. Surely having a CEO to run the business should be part of a criteria to play in the NRL.

3. Tribunal for off-field incidents

THIS one's an absolute must because the game has been far too inconsistent in dealing with player misbehaviour.

Brett Stewart was banned for four weeks - long before he was found not guilty of sexual assault charges.

He had no history of misbehaviour.

Other players have faced sexual assault charges which are ignored by the NRL. Robert Lui has twice been charged with assaulting his partner but hasn't missed a game.

Some incidents are handled by David Gallop. Some go to the board, some don't.

This could also become an anti-corruption unit like other sporting bodies have in light of the recent match fixing scandal.

4. Finals series

THE McIntyre system has to go.

I'll give you some examples from last year's finals series. The fourth-placed Wests Tigers beat the fifth-placed Dragons in the first week. The sixth-placed Warriors got smashed by 30 against the Broncos the same weekend yet advanced to week two to play the Tigers, who get no advantage from beating the defending premiers.

The AFL system is much better, The top four clubs play each other and get a second chance. The bottom four are in elimination games where they should be.

In the NRL, even a team that runs third is not guaranteed a second chance. In 2008 Cronulla finished equal minor premiers with Manly and Melbourne but could have been bounced out in week one if there were upsets.

5. The draw

IT should be done 12 months in advance. You can't copy everything from the AFL but surely the TV stations can no longer expect to decide the weekly playing schedule a month in advance.

In a draw done over 12 months, every club should get an even share of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday games.

They could promote their blockbusters well in advance. Country fans could plan weekends in Sydney at the beginning of the year.

Your CEO David Gallop is right when he says the strength of the competition is the evenness.

You'd probably know we've had nine premiers in 14 years.

The salary cap has levelled the playing field to the extent that almost every game, every round, every week is hard to predict. That means TV stations will get good footy games no matter who is playing.

6. Golden point

IT'S become too boring and too predictable and too much of a lottery.

Five hit-ups, bang, bang, bang and bang a shot at field goal.

It's a lucky dip. It's wrong that matches, and even seasons, can be decided this way.

I reckon you should convince David Gallop to introduce Golden Try. Imagine the teams desperately throwing the football about going for a four-pointer instead of a field goal.

It's a no brainer.

7. Referees

I DON'T mind having two referees but the standard last year was as poor as I can recall. Every week there was a major controversy. We have this ridiculous situation where video refs can't even adjudicate on forward passes even if they're a metre forward. Surely with today's technology of Hawk-eye, hot spots and snicko there has to be a way of judging forward passes.

The official referee of the year Shane Hayne didn't even get a look in on grand final day.

8. AFL threat

THE Melbourne Storm are guaranteed funding for the next six years as part of the News Limited-ARL agreement to set up the commission. It's to guarantee their survival and to ensure the game can attract the sponsorship dollars of national corporations that only a Melbourne team can do.

If it's OK to hand out money to the Storm, what about the clubs under immediate threat from Kevin Sheedy and the Giants. What about the Titans on the Gold Coast against just as big a threat in the Suns.

Parramatta, Penrith, Canterbury, the Tigers and the Titans need to get a bigger share of your marketing budget.

They also need people on the ground, more players in schools, more coaching clinics.

9. Weekly schedule

WE only need one Friday night game.

After a hard week at work parents, let alone their kids, are flat out staying awake to watch a replay.

It would create another timeslot for live television on Saturday afternoons or Sunday evenings.

Every fan survey I've seen shows the punters overwhelmingly support afternoon football. Ask Catherine Harris. She trades in hours to suit her customers. So should the NRL.

10. Expansion

THERE are three obvious areas the Central Coast, Perth and another Brisbane team.

Personally, I'm in favour of Perth and Gosford. The second Brisbane side didn't work last time.

Ask Mario, who's on your staff, how bad the Crushers were in those dreadful mustard jerseys.

We already have the Broncos and the Titans in south-east Queensland.

Perth is a must because of the booming economy and to help us become a truly national competition.

The Central Coast have the stadium and it allows the return of the Bears and all the supporters who left rugby league when they folded.

[G Las D]

That was a pretty dull presentation - the most exciting thing being a bloke signing his name on a piece of paper.
Seriously though as you've pointed out R L Winger the new board have plenty to get their teeth into.

I hope these are the right people to address the issues.
Top business people don't always come up with the goods when they turn to professional sport.
I wish them well.
The fresh start is an opportunity to make decisions and resolve problems.
The big thing to start with is the media rights sale.
Getting the very best deal will give a signal that the game is in safe hands and going places otherwise ...

[DIEHARDTITAN]

Was one of the greatest things Ive witnessed.

I have alot of faith in John Grant!

All Hail the Australian Rugby League Commission!

See Ya New Ltd!

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Gallop still there things and doubt much will change and the game will be run by self interest as ever. Really Gallop has done little and the Comp will not expand whilst he is there. The clubs will still be ran as bad as ever- see Manly and Parra for good examples. I am very much waiting to see a change of direction and hoping money is not just pumped in at the NRL level but other areas of the game like Bush/Country Rugby League and Youth Development. Sadly the clubs are too greedy and think of themselves. The clubs will just waste any extra cash on players wages instead of spending it on business areas. The new commission should get tough on ANY player caught being drunk and attacking his partner, acting like a real lowlife by having a poo in a hotel etc. More help in dealing with coping with the pressure of being in the public eye. The game maybe would be best at looking to sell its Media rights and maybe use Youtube as a partner in getting extended highlights out to people outside Australia, UK and NZ who struggle to watch games. I also feel the Refs situation really needs looking at as well

[G Las D]

Strange and possibly worrying for the finances of the game here:

A Federal Court has ruled that a company called Optus can record matches shown on free-to-air tv and replay them to their customers.
If they can get away with this it could have ramifications. Telstra have a lucrative deal with the NRL (and AFL) to broadcast live matches on the internet.

This latest development might reduce the amount of money the NRL(and AFL) can ask.

This company, according to the ruling, could record the match from free to air and replay it to its customers with a delay as little as two minutes!