Play the ball, not the man.
That was the message from besieged ARL Commission (ARLC) chairman John Grant to NRL club bosses on Tuesday after refusing to stand down over a funding backflip.
Grant said he could understand why NRL chairmen were upset but urged them to stop taking it personally and start showing leadership.
Grant said standing down would achieve nothing.
"Independence is very important. When you vote as a bloc, you give up your independence," he said.
"What we are seeing is a loss of independence of the individual clubs.
"To me, it needs leadership that says 'we are not going down the right track here'."
Some club chairmen have already vowed to boycott any future meetings with Grant.
But Grant on Tuesday denied his role had become untenable, instead offering to re-open talks with clubs as early as Thursday.
"Will I step down? That's not being considered at the moment," said Grant who had held the position for five years.
"My removal is certainly not going to do anything.
"Forget personalities - all the stuff that has gone on in the media.
"Chairmen have an obligation to their clubs to be sitting at the table talking.
"We are letting football politics get in the way of what we really want to do."
Grant fell out with clubs at a meeting last week after the governing body reneged on an agreement to fund clubs 130 per cent of their salary cap from 2018.
Read more at
http://wwos.nine.com.au/2016/11/29/09/08/arl-commissioners-back-john-grant#fRB3fqucUT9G8fCI.99
