THE RFL is moving closer to appointing a new chief executive, after seven candidates for the job were interviewed last week.
League Express understands that the initial interviews for the position were completed before the weekend and that the RFL directors, headed by Chairman Nigel Wood, will now decide on shortlisting as many as three of them and inviting them for a second, more detailed interview.
It hopes to then make the appointment before the end of this month.
So far, the only candidate whose candidacy has been made public is Tony Mestrov, the former London Broncos and Wigan forward who, after his retirement, was the chief executive of NRL club Manly for three years until he stepped down in 2025.
During his playing career he played for South Sydney before taking up a contract with London Broncos in 1996, who had been promoted to Super League as the competition was inaugurated that year.
He later signed with Wigan after leaving London at the end of 1997.
Mestrov played for Wigan as a prop forward in their 1998 Super League Grand Final victory over Leeds Rhinos, and as an interchange forward in their 2000 Super League Grand Final defeat by St Helens.
In 2001 he returned to London Broncos for one final season before retiring from the game and then going into sports administration, spending four years as the CEO of Hockey NSW, a year as the Chief Operating Officer of the Gold Coast Titans, and almost five years as the CEO of Greyhounds Racing NSW before joining Manly.
“I believe in leading from the front with a ‘tough but fair’ approach that prioritises transparency, accountability and high-performance culture,” Mestrov says on his LinkedIn profile.
“Strong governance, financial discipline and trusted stakeholder relationships are the foundations of long term commercial and social success. My approach balances ambition with integrity, enabling organisations to thrive in highly regulated and politically sensitive environments.”
The appointment of a new full-time CEO is the final step the RFL has to take to fully comply with Sport England governance requirements.
League Express understands that Rhodri Jones, the current interim CEO, who is also the full time CEO of RL Commercial, hasn’t applied for the permanent RFL position.
Although talks between the RFL and the NRL about a possible partnership are ongoing, following the recent visit of NRL CEO Andrew Abdo to the United Kingdom, League Express understands that the NRL will play no part in appointing the new RFL CEO.
The next meeting between NRL and RFL officials has been provisionally pencilled in to take place at the NRL Magic Weekend in Brisbane between 15th and 17th May.