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NSWRL given ultimatum

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Could this put SOO at risk?


NSW Rugby League officials will meet on Thursday to decide if they should re-run their controversial election or risk more than $20 million in funding.
The feud between the state and national bodies has intensified this week, with the ARL Commission issuing a deadline of Friday to resolve the situation.
It comes six weeks after Nick Politis and George Peponis quit the NSWRL board, furious Dino Mezzatesta had been ruled ineligible to run as a director due to a conflict of interest as Cronulla chief executive

The drama prompted the ARL Commission to launch an investigation through prominent lawyer Bret Walker, before claiming the NSWRL's decision was unconstitutional while issuing a list of demands.
Included in those are that the elections for the two metropolitan seats are held again, with Mezzatesta allowed to run for a seat on the board.
In turn, it would leave incumbent director Geoff Gerard needing to be voted in again, after originally holding his spot unopposed in February after Mezzatesta's ineligibility.
Independent directors would also then be reappointed by the board, while the position of chair - previously held by Peponis - would also then be decided,
If the NSWRL does not announce those actions by Friday at 4pm, ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys has threatened to pull funding for the organisation.

 

Broncos93

Juniors
Messages
623
I imagine not. Would just hand control of the Blues over to the ARLC. Another thing for V'landys to get his hands on and ruin.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
I imagine not. Would just hand control of the Blues over to the ARLC. Another thing for V'landys to get his hands on and ruin.
Surely NSWRL would have copyright on anything to do with the NSW team I'd have thought?
 

flippikat

Bench
Messages
4,378
Could this also be a means for the NRL to take direct stewardship of the game in NSW, restructure the lower tiers, boundaries, junior league affiliations etc?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Could this also be a means for the NRL to take direct stewardship of the game in NSW, restructure the lower tiers, boundaries, junior league affiliations etc?
Possibly, they did it in all the other states other than NSW and Qlnd in 2013 in a very heavy handed way (basically told the WARL board if they didnt hand over control they would cut all funding and registration!). NSWRL wouldn't be such an easy push over though and would no doubt put up a heck of a fight not to lose the gravy train.
 

flippikat

Bench
Messages
4,378
Possibly, they did it in all the other states other than NSW and Qlnd in 2013 in a very heavy handed way (basically told the WARL board if they didnt hand over control they would cut all funding and registration!). NSWRL wouldn't be such an easy push over though and would no doubt put up a heck of a fight not to lose the gravy train.
Well, put it this way - the funding is decent leverage over the NSWRL *should* the NRL choose to use it that way.

The question is, are V'Landys & his administration willing to do that to get reform?

Could his previous decisions with respect to the NSW sector of the game (eg bailing out the Sharks early in his tenure) have been lulling the NSW league fraternity into a false sense of security ahead of some hardball negotiation?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Well it could come back to bite him as he pushed through constitutional change last year which now means that one state and just a majority (9) of clubs could get rid of him as a director. Basically NSWRL would only need to get nine of the NSW clubs to vote with them and he's gone.
 

10$ Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
1,094
Could this also be a means for the NRL to take direct stewardship of the game in NSW, restructure the lower tiers, boundaries, junior league affiliations etc?
More like NRL to take control and suck all the money out of it and wipe out junior league because it doesn't generate revenue
 

siv

First Grade
Messages
6,546
NSWRL should just use their veto power in the ARLC to stop this rubbish from PVL
 

Menaiduck

Juniors
Messages
349
Nothing I’ve heard about the way the nswrl is administered gives me any sense that it is well managed. It’s a dog’s breakfast
 

10$ Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
1,094
The issue with NSWRL is that even when they do something really well or good for the game they go and do something (or things) that are just plain brainless or appear to show a lack of giving a toss
 

Menaiduck

Juniors
Messages
349
The issue with NSWRL is that even when they do something really well or good for the game they go and do something (or things) that are just plain brainless or appear to show a lack of giving a toss
The play rugby league website shows that clubs are very slack updating their comps this year. This has to be partly due to the nswrl. Parramatta haven’t posted anything at all. What is going on?
 

siv

First Grade
Messages
6,546
With NRL basically running RG, U21s U19s and U17s and already have players 30+6 contracted to the NRL

And if you remove SOO

Its going to be interesting to see how this plays out
 

Footy Tragic

Juniors
Messages
129
Taking control off the NSWRL won't make a difference, the NRL don't give a toss about juniors or country football. With the big profits that they are talking about why wouldn't they pay the rego for all junior kids to play this year after 2 years of restricted comps, as a reward for sticking with the game. They have lost so many kids. Some country players paid $300 rego for 4 games. And why don't they make the players get out to the schools and junior clubs to promote the game. They say they want to be stake holders in the game but just want to rip all the money out of it. Players could do it 30 years ago when they had fulltime jobs.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
NSWRL not laying down on the Vlandys threat! Issue a threat of their own.

e NSW Rugby League has launched a direct attack at Peter V'landys and threatened legal action if funding from the ARL Commission is not paid by the end of Sunday.
In the latest step towards an all-out civil war between the game's bosses and most powerful state, the NSWRL issued a lengthy two-page decree on Thursday.
In it, they claimed they were still yet to hear from V'landys directly since the controversial February 25 elections, where Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta was denied the right to run.
hey also again demanded the ARLC take back claims that the service agreement would be terminated between the two organisations, which would effectively cut the NSWRL out of the sport.

"The NSWRL has further demanded that the ARLC continue to fund the NSWRL in accordance with the ARLC's contractual and other obligations to do so," the state body added in a statement.
"Those demands have a deadline of 5pm on 17 April 2022 for the ARLC to comply.
"In the absence of the ARLC's compliance, the NSWRL shall have no other option than to enforce its rights."
The drama comes after both Nick Politis and George Peponis quit the NSWRL board following the elections, furious that Mezzatesta was not allowed to run.
The complaints then prompted the ARLC to launch their own investigation, with renowned lawyer Bret Walker finding that the NSWRL's position was incorrect.
As a result, the ARLC then demanded the election be re-run, stopping funding that was due last week and threatening to cut the NSWRL out of the picture if that did not happen.
In contrast, the NSWRL have stated they will not back down from their own legal advice that Mezzatesta could not stand due to a perceived conflict of interest.

Board members on Thursday were adamant they could continue to run the game at state level for some time without funding, but were angry over the lack of support after years of COVID-19 hits and natural disasters.
"As a member of the ARLC, NSWRL legitimately expects to be supported by the ARLC in meeting these challenges," the NSWRL said.
"Instead (it is) being subject to funding suspensions and other threats in relation to the termination of the right to participate in the State of Origin series.
"Such threats which are made for contrived political reasons.
"The ARLC chairman has not only suspended our funding, but he has also suspended any contact with NSWRL.
"The NSWRL board reasonably considers that this is an attack on the very people the ARLC is charged with supporting."

The comments come after V'landys told AAP last week he was not afraid to go to court with the NSWRL, and claimed any legal battle would be a waste of money that should go to grassroots football.
That line is believed to have in particular irked the NSWRL.
"If it is necessary to commence proceedings against the ARLC in order to protect the grassroots of the game by recovering that funding, then the board of NSWRL will not be 'wasting' grassroots funds," the NSWRL said.
"Instead, the board will be taking the only step it can to protect those very funds for the benefit of the more than 100,000 participants of the game in NSW."

 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
It’s war!

Rugby league is back in the midst of a civil war, with the NSWRL taking the bitter feud between it and the ARL Commission to the NSW Supreme Court.

Lawyers from the NSWRL launched legal action on Friday, demanding funding be reinstated and the game's head office retracts claims the state body broke its own constitution.

At stake in the court battle includes the general running of the NSW State of Origin team, as well as the future of the state body, the direction of grassroots funding and running of the reserve grade competition.

The action prompted ARLC chairman Peter V'landys to claim his immediate shock on Friday, again insistent the legal action is a waste of money.
V'landys also again urged the NSWRL to re-run their controversial board elections.
It comes two months after Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta was told he was ineligible to run for election due to a conflict of interest, prompting Nick Politis and George Peponis to walk from the NSWRL board in protest.
The ARLC then launched its own investigation through prominent lawyer Bret Walker, ultimately ordering the election be re-run as it was deemed unconstitutional, threatening the withdrawal of funding to the NSWRL if it wasn't.
The NSWRL has long maintained it was bound by its constitution to not let Mezzatesta run and cannot re-hold the the election, twice demanding around $1.75 million in monthly funding be paid by the ARLC.
After the second extended deadline was missed last weekend, NSWRL board members and lawyers met this week before launching action.
NSWRL lawyers will argue that the ARLC had breached its own services agreement and constitution by not paying the funding.
And in turn, it also wanted a declaration from the ARLC that there had been no breach by the NSWRL.
"It is a matter of the greatest regret for our organisation that NSWRL has been forced by ARLC into the position, where the only option open to NSWRL is to commence proceedings against ARLC.," the NSWRL said in a statement.
A defiant V'landys claimed on Friday that the battle was not about him but was instead being done on behalf of NRL clubs.
"They have had their own meetings, and they have come back to us saying they want it rectified," V'landys told AAP.
"How they (the NSWRL) are trying to personalise it and play me rather than the ball, they will be in for a shock.
"Because I have nothing to gain for it other than the respect of the NRL clubs.
"If I was in their shoes, I would just run a fresh election.
"Because as I have said in the past to use money that should be going to junior rugby league to defend the indefensible is ridiculous."
The matter would likely be expected to extend well beyond the start of the Origin series in June.
If that is the case, the courts would likely determine who has control of the team, including the coach, selectors and organisation of the camp.
If it was not to sit with the NSWRL, V'landys said a sub-committee of NRL clubs would likely take charge of team management with the game itself already run by the ARLC.
But he stressed that current key staff, including coach Brad Fittler, would still be welcome to be in place.

 

Perth Red

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65,411
Warring Australian and NSW rugby league bodies have urged a court not to interfere in their own decisions that have resulted in funding being withheld from NSW because of a controversial election result.


NSW Rugby League has sued the Australian Rugby League Commission for pulling the plug on funding and threatening to terminate a contract between them after disagreeing with the state body's decision to bar the CEO of Cronulla from an election to the board in February.
In a court hearing on Thursday, NSWRL's barrister Robert Newlinds SC rejected claims the decision to block a nomination by Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta to be elected as a metropolitan director meant the way the state body then managed the State of Origin series was defective.

Mr Newlinds defended the way NSWRL had conducted the election, which barred Mr Mezzatesta because of a conflict of interest, and said the result should not be changed by the NSW Supreme Court.
"We say it's an evaluative judgment to be made by the board but if properly exercised, i.e. honestly and reasonably, then it's been properly discharged and the court wouldn't interfere," Mr Newlinds said.
Mr Mezzatesta could not put his hand up for the election because he was also receiving a salary from his job as CEO of Cronulla and still had to fulfil his duties in that role.
NSWRL launched the court case in April, contesting a decision by the ARLC to withhold funding from March this year until the state body held a fresh election. The ALRC claims the board's makeup was deficient and that the state rugby league association was in breach of contract as a result.
Mr Newlinds denied any breach, saying his client still had directors who were properly fulfilling their role in managing and overseeing the game in NSW and that the ARLC's real complaint was that it did not like who had been appointed to the board.
The ARLC has itself been accused of a breach of contract by failing to pay the funding because of an "irrelevant" matter such as the election.
Representing the ARLC, Bret Walker SC said NSWRL was not entitled to funding, arguing that the Australian body had not approved any budget for 2022. The organisation could cut off the supply of money at any time, the barrister said.
Mr Walker argued the court could not direct the ARLC to pay any amount of money to the state body, and could not interfere in a dispute which would normally have been resolved in a commercial negotiation.
Bitter or fierce disputes in areas such as politics, religion or sport were not normally dealt with through the courts, Mr Walker said.
Under contracts between NSWRL and the ARLC, both bodies are required to act in the best interests of rugby league. The contracts govern NSWRL's grassroots rugby campaigns within the state as well as its management of the State of Origin.
After Justice Michael Ball pointed out that the ARLC had not described how NSW's board had failed to meet its obligations, Mr Walker said his client could raise concerns without waiting for something to go wrong such as poorly-printed flyers, unattractive jerseys or an incompetent fullback.
The judge said NSWRL's claims the budget had been approved and that funds were owed were likely to fail. In response, Mr Newlinds said his client could still sue the Australian rugby body over the failure to pay.
"If that means that we have to start another case down the track, and say there's another breach, we're going to do that," he said.
Justice Ball will deliver his judgment at a later date.


 
Last edited by a moderator:

Menaiduck

Juniors
Messages
349
Warring Australian and NSW rugby league bodies have urged a court not to interfere in their own decisions that have resulted in funding being withheld from NSW because of a controversial election result.


NSW Rugby League has sued the Australian Rugby League Commission for pulling the plug on funding and threatening to terminate a contract between them after disagreeing with the state body's decision to bar the CEO of Cronulla from an election to the board in February.
In a court hearing on Thursday, NSWRL's barrister Robert Newlinds SC rejected claims the decision to block a nomination by Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta to be elected as a metropolitan director meant the way the state body then managed the State of Origin series was defective.

Mr Newlinds defended the way NSWRL had conducted the election, which barred Mr Mezzatesta because of a conflict of interest, and said the result should not be changed by the NSW Supreme Court.
"We say it's an evaluative judgment to be made by the board but if properly exercised, i.e. honestly and reasonably, then it's been properly discharged and the court wouldn't interfere," Mr Newlinds said.
Mr Mezzatesta could not put his hand up for the election because he was also receiving a salary from his job as CEO of Cronulla and still had to fulfil his duties in that role.
NSWRL launched the court case in April, contesting a decision by the ARLC to withhold funding from March this year until the state body held a fresh election. The ALRC claims the board's makeup was deficient and that the state rugby league association was in breach of contract as a result.
Mr Newlinds denied any breach, saying his client still had directors who were properly fulfilling their role in managing and overseeing the game in NSW and that the ARLC's real complaint was that it did not like who had been appointed to the board.
The ARLC has itself been accused of a breach of contract by failing to pay the funding because of an "irrelevant" matter such as the election.
Representing the ARLC, Bret Walker SC said NSWRL was not entitled to funding, arguing that the Australian body had not approved any budget for 2022. The organisation could cut off the supply of money at any time, the barrister said.
Mr Walker argued the court could not direct the ARLC to pay any amount of money to the state body, and could not interfere in a dispute which would normally have been resolved in a commercial negotiation.
Bitter or fierce disputes in areas such as politics, religion or sport were not normally dealt with through the courts, Mr Walker said.
Under contracts between NSWRL and the ARLC, both bodies are required to act in the best interests of rugby league. The contracts govern NSWRL's grassroots rugby campaigns within the state as well as its management of the State of Origin.
After Justice Michael Ball pointed out that the ARLC had not described how NSW's board had failed to meet its obligations, Mr Walker said his client could raise concerns without waiting for something to go wrong such as poorly-printed flyers, unattractive jerseys or an incompetent fullback.

Meanwhile there are over 2600 teams playing in Sydney competitions this year probably oblivious to all of this drivel
 
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