http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...e/news-story/5c2de7801ec4d204ba0378d6aa93c571
Another delay in NRL funding deal, but John Grant to survive
NRL club bosses were annoyed yesterday at the delay by the ARL Commission in providing a final response to their funding claims, but there is still time to stave off John Grant’s public execution tomorrow.
The clubs had arranged a telephone hook-up yesterday afternoon to discuss the fine print of the compromise deal struck after several meetings between commission chairman Grant and Melbourne Storm boss Bart Campbell, the spokesman for the 16 NRL clubs.
Agreement by clubs on that document would have led to tomorrow’s vote on Grant’s leadership being cancelled.
But the final version failed to arrive in time so the clubs were forced to postpone their review of the commission’s response until today — or just 24 hours before the extraordinary general meeting is due to be held at the Moore Park league headquarters in Sydney. It means there is still time to cancel tomorrow’s showdown.
It seems a fait accompli that the clubs have the numbers — at least 15 votes of the 26 commission stakeholders — to roll Grant.
But under a compromise struck last Wednesday with clubs, and then discussed on Friday by the eight commissioners, Grant can stay in charge of the game for another 12 months if the points agreed to in meetings last week are put into writing and submitted to chairmen today.
It had been reported that two Queensland clubs, Brisbane and North Queensland, had baulked at dumping Grant, increasing his chances of survival. But yesterday they were both standing firm with 12 other clubs.
The only two clubs to step aside from voting are Newcastle and Gold Coast, which are still under NRL control. The 15th vote is the NSWRL, as the QRL has backed Grant.
The clubs, in light of the $1.8 billion broadcast deal to come into effect from 2018, will not budge on several conditions.
Chief among them is the previously promised annual grant to be 130 per cent of the salary cap from 2018.
Other key components include constitutional change, whereby the clubs and the two state leagues — the QRL and the NSWRL — have representation on the eight-member commission.
The new funding deal is not to be contingent on agreeing to perpetual licences. This was an original aim of the commission but the compromise is that existing club licences will be rolled over for another five years (from 2018 to 2022).
Progress is to be made next season on eventually gaining perpetuity of licence agreements for the next broadcast deal starting in 2023.
The clubs have also agreed to work towards a cap on football expenditure for each club.
Just as the salary cap has helped keep a balance on player rosters, the NRL wants to see that kind of equity extended to football departments.
One chairman yesterday said it had become “a virtual arms race” as clubs invest in all manner of sports science, training programs and technology to give them an edge.
Some clubs keep up this kind of expenditure while losing money overall from their final balance sheets each season.
The NRL is anxious to tighten the screws of fiscal restraint on clubs so the league doesn’t have to keep bailing them out.
The final element of the compromise deal is Grant’s tenure. The clubs are willing to let him stay until the end of November 2017, during which time he can work on a formula to create licences that grant the teams franchises “in perpetuity”.
Regardless of the machinations yesterday, the proposed review of the ARLC constitution by lawyer and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates is still going ahead.
Coates, who is doing the review on a pro bono basis, has not yet been given the terms of reference. He is due to meet with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg in mid-January to be given his instructions. While just 14 of the 26 stakeholders are needed to oust the commission chairman, to gain constitutional change takes agreement of both the NSWRL and QRL plus 15 of the 16 clubs.
It remains to be seen how many positions on the commission are likely to be allocated to the clubs and the states.
There is also the possibility that the commission might expand from its current eight members so it can accommodate additional members but retain an independent majority.
