IT guru John Grant tipped to govern league
Brent Read
From: The Australian
July 19, 2011 12:00AM
QUEENSLAND was over-ruled on the appointment of former Ansett and North Queensland director Mark Williamson but it appears another of its nominations, former Australia back John Grant, has pipped Sydney Olympics chief Gary Pemberton to become the chairman of the game's inaugural independent commission.
Formal invitations will this week be sent to the eight people hand-picked to form the commission after News Limited and the Australian Rugby League yesterday ratified the appointment of indigenous educator doctor Chris Sarra, finalising a process which became bogged down in politics and in-fighting between the Queensland and NSW delegates of the ARL.
While no date has been set for their unveiling, yesterday's decision means the commissioners could be officially announced within weeks, if not days. Sarra, executive director of the Stronger Smarter Institute, was the final appointment after the ARL back-flipped on the inclusion of Williamson.
With the commissioners now in place, focus will turn to who will assume the chairman's position. There was a school of thought that Pemberton, who negotiated the richest television deal in Olympics history when in charge of the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee, would initially take the job before handing the reins to Grant.
However, The Australian has been told Grant - a highly respected member of the information technology community - has edged ahead of Pemberton in the race to what has become arguably the most powerful and influential position in the code's history. That would no doubt appease the Queensland Rugby League, which fought hard to have Williamson appointed to the commission only to be disappointed when club chairmen applied pressure to ARL chairman John Chalk.
Williamson admitted he felt let down by the process after his appointment was agreed in principle, only to be reversed when the ARL stood its ground.
Aside from Grant, Pemberton and Sarra, the other five commissioners are former Australia forward Wayne Pearce, Leighton Holdings chief financial officer Peter Gregg, Harris Farm markets founder Catherine Harris, advertising supremo Ian Elliott and CSR director Jeremy Sutcliffe.
The Australian first revealed Grant's candidacy for the commission in October last year. Nearly eight months later, he appears to have edged ahead of Pemberton to chair a body charged with closing the widening gap between the NRL and AFL.
Crucially, the commission will be charged with overseeing the next broadcasting rights deal, regarded as the most pivotal negotiation in the code's history.
