‘Best presentation I’ve ever seen’: Peter V’landys backs Nine journo Michael Chammas to build PNG Chiefs
Michael Chammas is expected to sign with the taxpayer-funded franchise, taking on the role of enticing players and their families to live in a compound in Port Moresby ahead of the Chiefs’ NRL debut in 2028.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys has moved to allay fears Channel 9 reporter Michael Chammas will be out of his depth as the
PNG Chiefs’ incoming general manager of football, revealing a PowerPoint presentation from the hard-chasing hack landed him the job.
Chammas, 37, is expected to sign with the taxpayer-funded franchise on Tuesday before negotiating his exit from Nine and the Sydney Morning Herald, for whom he has worked since 2020.
He’s taking on the toughest role in Australian sport: enticing players and their families to live in a compound in Port Moresby — one of the world’s most dangerous cities — ahead of the Chiefs’ NRL debut in 2028.
His appointment is a surprise in some respects — but in many ways not.
The Australian revealed in November that Chammas had been in informal discussions about joining the NRL, most likely as head of strategy. It was also revealed he had met with the Perth Bears, although he went cold on that idea after the ARLC was publicly rinsed for appointing Channel 7 news boss Anthony De Ceglie as chief executive.
Ambitious and streetwise in the politics and powerplays of rugby league, Chammas first became interested in joining the Chiefs during a media familiarisation of the country with select reporters in October.
According to NRL sources, the story in The Australian didn’t hinder talks between the parties but escalated them, culminating in Chammas presenting to chief executive Andrew Abdo and V’landys in early December.
A trip to PNG last week with his wife confirmed to Chammas this was where he wanted to be. He declined to comment when contacted.
“The presentation to Andrew was the best I’ve ever seen,” V’landys said on Tuesday morning.
Chammas’ pitch was less about who the franchise could sign and more about the character of the player needed in such a unique environment. Chiefs players, coaches, officials, and their families will be living in a secure, resort-style compound. Creating a “family” atmosphere was central to the Chammas sell.
The NRL is littered with sacked coaches and officials who smashed the boardroom presentation but couldn’t deliver on the field and that’s the challenge he faces.
Apart from signing players, he will be heavily involved in appointing a coach. He’s close to former Parramatta coach Brad Arthur, although Adrian Lam — a former PNG player and national coach — is considered the frontrunner.
Most importantly, Chammas has V’landys’ backing, and that’s pretty much all you need to survive in rugby league — as long as you deliver.
“When I was 26, and I became CEO [of the NSW Harness Racing Club], people doubted me, too,” V’landys said. “Michael has the ability to do the job. What he has over so many people is his contact book. He can get people to pick up the phone whenever he wants.”
Maybe not Canterbury GM Phil Gould, with whom Chammas famously clashed on Nine’s 100% Footy last year over the Lachlan Galvin saga, but V’landys is right. Nobody has broken more NRL stories in the past few years that Chammas, but breaking stories is far different to being the story.
His first order of business should be repairing his relationship with controversial player agent Isaac Moses, with whom he has clashed repeatedly in recent years. Chammas refused to be Moses’ mouthpiece while other journos shamelessly did his bidding.
But relationships in rugby league are transactional. Everyone needs each other. Even Gould mended his relationship with Moses so he could sign Galvin. Chammas might need to do the same.
Privately, the Chiefs are talking a good game. They tell me players have already reached about joining them because their wages are tax-free. It’s something Chammas will benefit from, too: he’s taken a pay cut to join PNG but the tax incentives will mean he’s making more than he ever did at Nine.
He joins PNG at an uncertain time. Chief executive Andrew Hill left last year to join Penrith. He was only recently replaced by former Digicel boss Lorna McPherson.
Chairman Ray Dib was last month sacked — “I did not walk!” he declared — after a fallout with McPherson, who V’landys rates highly. He’s been replaced by Catherine Harris, an inaugural ARL commissioner but also someone lacking any real football experience.
Chammas comes in with plenty of ambition, a strong work ethic, and bulging contact book, but is a rookie in football administration. The NRL admits it must surround him with hard-headed recruitment figures experienced in how the salary cap works.
Some have drawn comparisons with Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy, who was also a rugby league reporter before joining the Melbourne Storm in 2008.
But Donaghy spent years doing the hard yards as a media manager, including a stint at the Brisbane Lions, before eventually becoming Storm CEO. Chammas won’t be afforded as much time in his role. He needs to hit the ground running.
De Ceglie is proof that journalists don’t necessarily make good club bosses.
As revealed by The Australian last month, V’landys has gone cold on the L-plate CEO because he ignored his instructions for the new Bears logo to closely resemble North Sydney’s.
De Ceglie’s problem isn’t so much his ability as his ego. He’s made himself the face of his club when it should be rugby league Immortal Mal Meninga.
It’s a cautionary tale for Chammas, whose influence evaporates because he is no longer reporting on rugby league shenanigans but standing in the middle of them.
Or maybe not. When news broke in November that V’landys wanted him to join the NRL, Chammas was in England covering the Ashes series.
At the Kangaroos team hotel, coach Kevin Walters walked from the field and threw an arm around him.
“How are you, boss?” he joked. “Looking forward to working for you.”
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