http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...n-grant-could-rise-again-20170606-gwlfsa.html
QRL holds key to ARLC constitution change as clubs fear John Grant could rise again
Rugby league is five globules of mercury chasing each other across a marble table, seeking unity in one uneasy blob, but never quite achieving it.
The ARLC, the NRL administration, RLPA, the 16 clubs and two state bodies all seem to be in a state of perpetual collision over money or representation.
Now, however, there appears to be consensus between the clubs and states over a new ARLC constitution – but no agreement yet on who will sit at the ARLC table.
South Sydney chairman Nick Pappas has proposed a solution to the quandary of the states being directly represented on the ARLC while the clubs are not.
The Titans, Knights and Eels have correctly pointed out the double standard of the NSWRL and QRL being represented on a nine-person commission by their respective chairs, Dr George Peponis and Bruce Hatcher, while the clubs are forced to name two directors with no direct affiliation to them.
Pappas proposes the two state chairmen serve only for 18 months on the ARLC before they are replaced by two new nominees.
The 16 clubs would divide into two groups: one pool of the 11 NRL member clubs of the NSWRL and one pool of five, representing the three Queensland clubs, the Storm and Warriors.
Each of the two groups would nominate an independent director for the standard three-year ARLC term.
The two state chairmen would be given terms half as long as the club nominees in order to placate the Titans, Eels and Knights,who have opposed the direct representation of the NSWRL and QRL.
There is an unrelenting Sydney push for Dr Peponis, a former Australian captain, to join the commission but uncertainty surrounds Hatcher, who is close to fellow Brisbane resident and current ARLC chair, John Grant.
For constitutional change to take effect, both states must agree.
While the NSWRL is willing to have an ARLC of five independent commissioners outnumbering two each from the states and clubs, the QRL has been historically reluctant to surrender its veto power.
Canterbury chair Ray Dib has been campaigning for Racing NSW's chief executive, Peter V'landys, as the nominee of the NSW-based NRL clubs.
But some of the more astute chairmen question whether some Sydney clubs understand the need for the representatives of the clubs to be independent.
They point out that if Dr Peponis, a former Bulldogs premiership captain, joins the commission, together with Dib's choice, Canterbury could have two sympathisers at the table.
(V'landys says, "I'm 100 percent baggage-free and a puppet to no one".)
There has been no formal agreement by NSW's NRL clubs on their nominee, should Pappas' proposal for constitutional reform be accepted.
The Queensland/Melbourne/Auckland bloc of clubs has been left out of the push for V'landys, with them assuming the recent media coverage of his candidature, mainly in News Corporation newspapers, is a media phenomenon.
This bloc of clubs has not, as yet, chosen its nominee.
There are other major obstacles to constitutional reform. As pointed out by the
Herald in February, NSWRL's own constitution forbids Dr Peponis sitting on the commission.
Under the Corporations Act, it will require a vote of 75 per cent of attending members to rescind rule 31(k) that says the NSWRL's independent directors cannot hold a position on the ARLC.
As president of Canterbury Leagues Club, Dr Peponis is also in breach of the ARLC rules that state a commissioner cannot be a member of a related rugby league entity.
However, the constitutional change proposed by Pappas would remove that obstacle.
The QRL's existing rules are more relaxed, simply requiring an independent director to disclose any conflict before being appointed.
Pappas' proposal is moving towards the model suggested by AOC president, John Coates, when he completed his review of the ARLC constitution early this year.
While Coates was opposed to the clubs having direct representation, he gave a nod to the state chairmen sitting on the commission, providing they left the room when conflict of interest issues arose.
For example, budgetary discussions over funding, where the states received $60 million last year, would require the NSWRL and QRL chairs to absent themselves.
It was this concession by Coates that Dib and a subcommittee of chairmen say was not passed on to clubs when Grant reported back to them.
They fear their campaign to oust Grant will be frustrated by him resigning, as flagged, in February, and then simply have the commission re-elect him.
They suspect Grant has not replaced the two commissioners who have resigned because he wishes to control its numbers.
Perhaps Grant can't find anyone willing to take all the heat of the quicksilver collisions. Rugby league's universe is small, but it has always known Mercury is the planet closest to the sun.
