NRL independent commission holds historic inaugural meeting and agrees to handover by November 1
By Liam Fitzgibbon
AAP
August 23, 2011 12:43PM
The minds that will shape the future of the NRL came together for the first time on Tuesday as the incoming independent commission held their first meeting.
As seven of the eight commissioners met at NRL headquarters in Sydney to be briefed on the state of the game, chairman John Grant announced current stakeholders had agreed to push ahead with plans to have the changeover complete by November 1.
The new NRL independent commission will be charged with tackling some of the biggest issues facing the game, including expansion, the $1 billion broadcasting rights and the game's salary cap.
NRL chief executive David Gallop said he expected the commission's impact to be virtually instant and was confident it would inherit a healthy product.
"We're going to collapse three boards that are currently in place and replace them with one," Gallop said on Tuesday. "That's a big step, and you'll see an impact from that almost immediately.
"It's a unique and exciting change for the game; it's been in the pipeline for a long time.
"The good news is that the game is in a position of strength to make that change.
"The key strategies the game has employed over the past decade are producing results, but we need to set an overall strategical direction for the game."
Gallop said there were still "about 20 issues" to resolve before the commission could officially take control, and while he was keen to label November 1 as a goal rather than a deadline, Grant said all the focus was on ensuring the date was met.
"We had a very significant and important meeting yesterday with all of the stakeholders ... and the agreement was we need to be targeting November 1," Grant said.
"It's a logical handover date - everything is now focused on doing that."
Grant said the commissioners would use Tuesday's meeting to begin building a working relationship, with many having never met each other before. But he said it was too early to say how they would go about tackling some of the game's big issues.
However, he insisted all would approach the task with the game's best interests at heart.
"Speaking to the other commissioners, they are of the same frame of mind that it is a very exciting time for rugby league. We've got a great game; we're very lucky to be in this position," said Grant, a former league international and Brisbane IT executive.
Only Leighton Holdings chief financial officer Peter Gregg was absent from Tuesday's meeting.
The commission also includes Chris Sarra, a director with the Queensland Government's Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership, former Qantas and Billabong chairman Gary Pemberton, former Australian Test forward Wayne Pearce, Harris Farm markets founder Catherine Harris, advertising executive Ian Elliott and CSR director Jeremy Sutcliffe.
