A select committee of NRL club chairmen, led by the Storm's Bart Campbell, has reached an impasse with Grant over funding, which, unresolved, will come to a head on December 2 when all 16 clubs next meet.
But fears that a vote against Grant is not so much a negotiating ploy to extract more money from him but a plot to install puppets on the commission, with a compliant chief executive, has led one club chairman to consider contacting Campbell to withdraw his planned vote against Grant.
Campbell has impressed club chairmen with his genuine motives, including a guarantee to clubs of a minimum grant of a net 30 per cent above a salary cap of $10 million, a position supported by the other members of the committee - Roosters' Nick Politis, Bulldogs' Ray Dib, Broncos' Dennis Watt, Sea Eagles' Scott Penn and Warriors' Jim Doyle.