RFL chair Simon Johnson is under significant pressure, with a vote to remove him from office set to take place at the next RFL Council meeting, scheduled for Wakefield on March 12.
The proposal has been made by Leigh Leopards and has been seconded by Batley Bulldogs, who are also proposing that RFL director Sandy Lindsay be removed from office.
The motion also proposes that a member-led review of the professional game should be implemented, with Leigh owner Derek Beaumont and Leeds CEO Gary Hetherington becoming club-nominated representatives “having the power to appoint an implementation committee and a chair with its findings to be reported to and approved at Council in July 2025”.
No appointments would be made to the RFL board until that committee reports its findings and the chair of the implementation committee would be installed as the interim chair of the RFL until its next AGM in July.
That person is likely to be current Bradford Bulls chairman Nigel Wood, who was the RFL chief executive from 2007 to 2017.
League Express understands that the strength of feeling among the RFL’s member clubs means that the resolutions are likely to be carried, despite the fact that the RFL itself has tabled a proposal for a strategic review of the sport to be carried out by an implementation committee, with Simon Johnson to stand down in December this year.
That proposal is likely to be rejected by the clubs.