NRL faces major turmoil as clubs threaten breakaway league

[Stormwarrior82]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...n/news-story/2fb4eaa3b67d7d5318f01ee4c7b4b469

John Quayle can save NRL from civil war, says legendary rugby league administrator Ken Arthurson

Paul Crawley, The Daily Telegraph
December 4, 2016 5:46pm

LEGENDARY rugby league administrator Ken Arthurson has backed the growing push to have John Quayle take over from John Grant as chairman of the ARL Commission.

Together Arthurson and Quayle were in charge of the ARL when the Super League War broke out in 1995.

With the game now on the brink of another civil war, Arthurson has told The Daily Telegraph Quayle’s experience and honour would make him the perfect man to deliver peace again.

“If it was up to me there would be no question. I would certainly be supporting John Quayle,” Arthurson said.

“I said from the word go, when the Commission was first established, they were crazy if they didn’t put John Quayle on it.

“I couldn’t speak too highly of John Quayle.

“Apart from the fact that I regard him as a very, very good administrator and a man who has a terrific knowledge of the game of rugby league, his loyalty to me during the time he was chief executive and I was chairman was just outstanding.”

NRL clubs have the numbers to remove Grant under the current constitution and he is expected to be axed before Christmas.

While Grant is digging his heels in to stay, Arthurson said he could understand the clubs’ disappointment and anger after the Commission reneged on the funding agreement to provide 130 per cent of the salary cap from 2018.

“To be a good witness, I don’t know too much about John Grant or his administrator abilities,” Arthurson said.

“But I do know this, you are looking for trouble if you make a promise and then break it.

“Particularly one that is affecting the clubs so much.

“Some of the administrators ring me up and generally the information I get from those blokes is that they all want to get rid of John Grant.

“They tell me they have the numbers.

“I don’t know if they have or not but that is what I have been told.

“I worked with John Quayle for a lot of years and I will tell you this about Quayle; once you point him in the right direction, by Jesus he is like a terrier.

“He just keeps going.

“I couldn’t think of anyone more suitable.”

Arthurson said it was also time for the NRL to show more respect to the grassroots and tireless workers in country regions.

“I was very disappointed that they wiped the City-Country game,” Arthurson said.

“They say the game doesn’t mean much but Jesus it does mean a lot to country people.

“Some of those poor bloody blokes in the country are working all for nothing. They are painting lines and mowing lawns and getting food prepared and helping to raise money to get gear for players and kids.

“Surely they are entitled to a little bit back.”

Yeah Pick Politis's Business partner for the commission job. If that's the case they won't need to change the commissions rules. The clubs will already have a seat at the table. The clubs media arm at it finest. Jobs for the boys runs deep.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

What a legend. Never mind getting Quayle back, get he and Arko back.

A rugby league man who actually cares about country people! Not just cares but actually shows respect. We certainly don't see that anymore.

Not sure they are the answer but isn't putting the funds into grassroots what the Nrl is trying to do? Respect goes both ways. Neither party is helping the cause.

Now before you talk about the city-country game blame the players/clubs for that shambles. Nrl money into the country will do more.

 

[Von Hipper]

$100M on a digital presence just seems like lining the pockets of some IT companies.

There needs to be some serious interrogation of this, corporate Australia has a bad history with being ripped off on these sort of things.

Bravo - I want the funding deal capped at 100% (bet the bastards push it to 110%) so if the clubs are to be denied I would want the other spending to be transparent and unquestionable.

 

[Von Hipper]

Yeah Pick Politis's Business partner for the commission job. If that's the case they won't need to change the commissions rules. The clubs will already have a seat at the table. The clubs media arm at it finest. Jobs for the boys runs deep.

Its so daft and stupid that paper, and that story, its hilarious.

Does he even realize why they got rid of city country in the first place? Not even country cared about it in the end. No player wanted to play in it, and no one attended.

I also consider Politis and Gould 2 of the ring leaders in all of this. When this first was announced as happening it honestly smacked of something Phil Gould would do because it had no grounding in reason or sense; his latest comments smack of that - the first on radio was like 'redemption for his sins' (i realise now its not going to solve anything) then the second report "but it feels good!!!!!!"

gawd....

 

[BuffaloRules]

Your attacks on the Nrl are becoming too obvious now. Clubs and even more so the Nrl have said they want to expand but want the clubs profitable before they do. And that's fair enough. If you take it as they dont want to expand well your a d$&khead. Simples

Calling me names is not going to change what I have said about six times in this thread that there are no plans or timetable for NRL expansion put forward by the NRL admin..

They should be being pro active about expansion and not hiding behind excuses which may never be attainable..

 

[BuffaloRules]

Of course the clubs wouldn't. It would be the quickest way to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. Too many self-serving clubs.

There is transperancy it's called annual report. From 2012-2015 the clubs grants went from $80 mil to $160mil ...... doubled and still crying poor. Oh by the way the revenue didn't double so clubs got more than there fair share.

Yes $100 mil is a big spend hopefully the next person knows what to do with it.

The NRL goes into very little detail about expenditure in their annual reports..

The revenue didn't double after 2012? Bullshit!

2012 was the last year of the old Gallop TV deal and the new deal more than doubled in 2013... I don't have a problem with the grants doubling ( it's all going on salary cap funding anyway are you begrudging the players getting paid now? )..

The problem is that whilst the Grants doubled in line with the TV deal, the admin costs increased considerably more..

 

[Von Hipper]

Calling me names is not going to change what I have said about six times in this thread that there are no plans or timetable for NRL expansion put forward by the NRL admin..

They should be being pro active about expansion and not hiding behind excuses which may never be attainable..

Can I just say - being a public forum and all - I don't think he is completely attacking you at all. Just on expansion, I don't think they can account for it directly, its not the sort of thing they can do as they please, especially given the current funding furore - so I dont think we will see an official plan around it. But they probably should put some initiative in place - I mean of all the things happening right now expansion is in my top 2.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Imaging the Nrl telling the Broncs, Parra, Penrith, Bulldogs etc that they aren't receiving an upgrade to the grants this tv deal because their leagues clubs are to profitable. Both Greenberg and Grant would need the secret service and even then that probably wouldn't save them

Imagine the EPL telling Man U or Chelsea that they aren't getting an increase in funding because three times as much is going to Swansea or West Ham instead...

Only the AFL zealots can get away with that rubbish...

 

[Von Hipper]

Imagine the EPL telling Man U or Chelsea that they aren't getting an increase in funding because three times as much is going to Swansea or West Ham instead...

Only the AFL zealots can get away with that rubbish...

False Equivalence (when its ever so slightly different/hugely different)


Sorry, someone has to stop you and it may as well be me. Overseas is way different to our country. For one thing the size of their economies. They also have a league that is continually (somewhat actually) changing so its more accepted/sensible to do it like that.

The tv money is continually changing based on who is in the league (percentages, ect), their position and all those things, so the system has been set up around that.

Just taking that they do that and applying it here is not good enough in australia. The whole argument is moot - its not like for like.

I really do think its not you - I think its certain people who are club chairmen right now filling everyone's heads with the nonsense they should be doing what overseas clubs are doing.

Should we note man utd's monstrous debt? And any of those others, but they can still build large stadia and all that because they get the crowds. IF we don't fund like AFL, in our market we will shrivel up.

 

[taipan]

OK its a me a humble backwoodsman, adopting a simplified approach.
The new digital dept to be run by the NRL is set to cost $25m pa.
Reduce by negotiation the 130% to 115% the amount given to clubs on a $10m salary cap.The $24m NRL saving (16x15% =16x$1.5m saving) would just about cover the $25m digital cost.

The NRL in return reduces the amount to grassroots p.a. by $25m ($100m down to $75m).
This for the first couple of years,until increased funding either by sponsorshipcommercial deals,Govt grants on grassroots are found to get back up to the $100m p.a.

I would further suggest the clubs as they do not want to contribute to a sinking fund to protect clubs in trouble, they increase their grassroots funding locally ,to boost falling Sydney numbers.They do this by savings on their overspending in football depts.

The simple answer for the NRL is to grow the pie from a single one to a family size one.Then every muncher can get a decent share.
And the clubs get off their a*ses and get memberships min 25,000 and grow another family pie.

I don't particularly care if Kim Jon Un runs the NRL,as long as the code gets true value in revenue, the clubs get their monies as do the grassroots,and they decide ," you know what Perth and another QLD side is a goer".

I'm looking at the hundreds of millions of opportunity dollars lost in the past, by inept TV negotiations, and thinking where the hell would we be now ,if that loot had been in the NRL kitty.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Not sure they are the answer but isn't putting the funds into grassroots what the Nrl is trying to do? Respect goes both ways. Neither party is helping the cause.

Now before you talk about the city-country game blame the players/clubs for that shambles. Nrl money into the country will do more.

The "grassroots" spiel has been wheeled out in about the last two weeks. They've said and done nothing about it for years but now it's all about the grassroots.

Not only have they killed city-country but they're forcing country regions to turn their rep teams into under 23s so they're supposedly more of a route to he NRL after they also scrapped the NYC. And in any case, country people didn't care about which city-country teams showed up. Players pull out of the all stars bullshit every year but guess what, it's still going. Pretty clear where the NRL's "grassroots" talk meets reality.

 

[POPEYE]

Easier to hate on Gould then try to refute what he is saying...

Jabba is going for the brass ring

 

[BuffaloRules]

Jabba is going for the brass ring

Not yours I hope old mate...!

 

[POPEYE]

Not yours I hope old mate...!

A bottom feeder trying to outsmart a bottom dweller you think . . . I've been around too long for Jabba to convince me of anything

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...n/news-story/8f30043eda07357cc9cad209a4fe7d72

ARL’s John Grant moves to shore up his position

• The Australian
• 12:00AM December 5, 2016
• Brent Read
  
  
  
  
  ARL Commission chairman John Grant is set to ramp up rearguard action to retain his position today when he meets Melbourne Storm boss Bart Campbell to outline the motives behind the governing body’s decision to backflip on a deal with the clubs over future funding.

Grant has two weeks to convince the clubs that he should not be voted out at an extraordinary general meeting on December 20, his position coming under intense scrutiny after 14 of the chairmen and the NSW Rugby League provided proxy votes to the NRL endorsing his removal on Friday.

Under the constitution, the clubs only need 14 of the 26 shareholders to remove a commissioner.

Grant has been in regular dialogue with Campbell in recent days but the real test will come today when they meet for the first time since the Melbourne chairman and owner was one of four powerbrokers to storm out of a meeting with the commission a fortnight ago.

It is understood Campbell will then report back to the clubs, his evaluation likely to determine whether they return to the negotiating table or continue on a path that threatens to tear the game asunder.

Club bosses have made Grant’s scalp the priority as they look to force the commission to honour their previous agreement and seek some form of retribution for the breakdown in funding negotiations that put the clubs at odds with the administration.

It is understood the clubs have made it clear that the only way Grant can save his job is if he reinstates the Memorandum of Understanding that was agreed in-principle late last year, which in part guaranteed that the commission would pay a grant equal to 130 per cent of the salary cap.

Even that may not be enough for Grant as the game prepares for a fortnight as decisive as any in the code’s history.

While Grant looks on borrowed time, some of the clubs won’t stop there unless the landscape dramatically changes, placing the remaining seven commissioners on notice.

Cronulla chairman Damian Keogh has talked about removing commissioners one by one if need be, a stance that is believed to have support among some of the other hard-line chairmen.

There are ongoing concerns with the game’s administration and its use of the rivers of gold that have flowed into the game in recent years, with some of those in the upper echelons of the NRL also in the crosshairs, most notably chief financial officer Tony Crawford and head of strategy and investment Andrew Fraser. Chief executive Todd Greenberg also has his critics among the clubs.

Grant shapes as the first target but his removal could prompt a domino effect, sending the game into a full-blown crisis.

Grant has the full backing of the entire commission — they released a statement last week endorsing his place as chairman — and although CSR chairman Jeremy Sutcliffe has been mentioned as a potential replacement, it would be no surprise if more commissioners didn’t opt for the exit in the face of a club mutiny.

That would represent a disaster for the code given the commission was expected to herald a new way forward. Instead, the code is now at the crossroads as the clubs look to wrest back some of the control they ceded in the pursuit of independence, first by ransacking the commission and then by making constitutional changes which will give them a place on the eight-person body.

Grant is under immense scrutiny although he could mitigate some of the ill-will today by providing Campbell with the financial details behind the game’s decision to renege on their previous funding offer.

The commission has indicated it would prefer to direct money into grassroots and digital, although the clubs want what they say is owing to them and believe their only option is to act against the chairman and his fellow commissioners.

 

[Captain Apollo]

The "grassroots" spiel has been wheeled out in about the last two weeks. They've said and done nothing about it for years but now it's all about the grassroots.

Not only have they killed city-country but they're forcing country regions to turn their rep teams into under 23s so they're supposedly more of a route to he NRL after they also scrapped the NYC. And in any case, country people didn't care about which city-country teams showed up. Players pull out of the all stars bullshit every year but guess what, it's still going. Pretty clear where the NRL's "grassroots" talk meets reality.

According to this article in today's Sydney Morning Herald, the drop in junior numbers is in metropolitan areas. The CRL have said they have had an increase in registrations in non-metropolitan areas.

 

[Blues Riff]

A bottom feeder trying to outsmart a bottom dweller you think . . . I've been around too long for Jabba to convince me of anything

Says Jar Jar Binks.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

Calling me names is not going to change what I have said about six times in this thread that there are no plans or timetable for NRL expansion put forward by the NRL admin..

They should be being pro active about expansion and not hiding behind excuses which may never be attainable..

Yeah I thought that might work. You have probably said "no plans" more than that, but still doesn't mean it's true. As I've explained to you numerous times the clubs and Nrl have both said, they won't expand until the clubs are profitable. Now correct me if I'm wrong but that in itself is a plan, is it not? Timeline is as long it takes to make clubs stand on there own 2 feet. Now you say that it's an excuse now..? The Nrl, clubs and most fans can at least understand the reasoning, not just discount it because you hate everything about the commission.

When smith was in charge expansion was looking possible. A lot of effort was put in to working out what is needed. Then at some point it got squashed and a line was drawn in the sand and a decision was made to look after the current clubs first. So there would of been plans and ideas on what a franchise would of needed and the initial role out but what is the point of telling people now when things can change in the mean time.

At the end of the day, the quicker clubs get profitable and can look after themselves and not plunder money on non-money making ventures the quicker expansion will happen. And I'm sure we all agree the sooner the better.

 

[T-Boon]

Imagine the EPL telling Man U or Chelsea that they aren't getting an increase in funding because three times as much is going to Swansea or West Ham instead...

Only the AFL zealots can get away with that rubbish...

I am unsold on equalisation as an outright evil thing. I am certainly against it as a means to prop up poorly run clubs in Sydney. But on the other hand I am pro adjustments in favour of teams in expansion areas or even regional areas.
I would tax Brisbane (fairly heavily) and redistribute some of their grant to the GC, Melbourne and possibly regional teams. Reason being is that they have a completely unfair advantage in terms of free to air TV every Friday (even when they play away most of the time). I would image this would amount to millions in terms of sponsorship, third party benefits etc. Their advantage in that respect has come in part from blocking new teams in Brisbane (and in one instance killing an existing team).
Would that ever happen while News Ltd owns the Broncos? Highly unlikely.
The brings me to the point that the game needs to get on better terms with Fairfax media and all other news outlets. Throw fairfax a bone. Get them more involved in the Dally M awards or something. Same with the ABC, Nine and seven. We need the other media to be in a position to drown out the garbage from News Ltd.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

The "grassroots" spiel has been wheeled out in about the last two weeks. They've said and done nothing about it for years but now it's all about the grassroots.

Not only have they killed city-country but they're forcing country regions to turn their rep teams into under 23s so they're supposedly more of a route to he NRL after they also scrapped the NYC. And in any case, country people didn't care about which city-country teams showed up. Players pull out of the all stars bullshit every year but guess what, it's still going. Pretty clear where the NRL's "grassroots" talk meets reality.

You're getting sick of hearing the word grassroots but at the same time annoyed that they haven't done anything for years. Hmmmm grassroots. "They" haven't killed the city-country, the players and the clubs have. Grassroots, grassroots, grassroots!!