RL independence day arrives - NRL Independent Commission announced for November 1

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I don't think the name is that important to be honest as long as the message gets across of what sport we are playing.

Id be happy with calling the commission and the competition Rugby League Australia. For other nations, they can call it Rugby League New Zealand or Rugby League Fiji.

Having New Zealand in the competition shouldn't force a name change, IMO the over all goal should be for NZ to have their own professional competition and not need any team in the Australian competition. Then we can really start getting our own World Club Championship thing going.

 

[Penance]

Why the hell was my post on Inglis moved here? Mods please remove.

 

[Quidgybo]

Having New Zealand in the competition shouldn't force a name change, IMO the over all goal should be for NZ to have their own professional competition and not need any team in the Australian competition. Then we can really start getting our own World Club Championship thing going.

I disagree. For a New Zealand professional competition to work they'd need to be able stock and more importantly finance 8 to 10 NRL standard teams. If they're significantly less than NRL standard then you'll either relegate the comp to second tier status and/or start undoing the foundation of NRL experienced players that has made the Kiwis a force at Test level.

I really don't see what advantage we gain in trying to define our club comps by international borders. Sure, we play to our strongholds and build the comps around a core based on NSW, QLD and Northern England. But beyond that let's not limit ourselves and prevent these comps from being bigger players on the world sport stage.

I think more realistically New Zealand can support 3 to 4 NRL standard teams. Not enough for their own comp but certainly enough to keep the Kiwi test team a major force for many years to come. And it's another 3 or 4 strong teams that allow the NRL to directly sell itself to an even bigger market and become an even bigger player on the world sport stage.

Leigh

 

[Perth Red]

The fact remains the IC should be running the game at all levels and should be linked to the NZRL and PNGRL. This way the two (eventually 3) comps being run with NZ team s(and hopefully a PNG team in Q'land cup) will make more sense and the International game in this region will be btter run by the IC if these two are involved as well. A rep from PNGRL and NZRL on the IC would be a start. Also if the IC is supposed to be for all levels of the game, where is the voice of the affiliated states on the IC?

 

[Quidgybo]

Also if the IC is supposed to be for all levels of the game, where is the voice of the affiliated states on the IC?

Same place as the voice of the NSWRL and voice of the QRL. One of the main points of the IC is that we're abandoning the concept of your commissioner or my commissioner in favor of commissioners who have no formal ties to any specific constituency. The idea is that such a Commission where no one has an inside advantage and no commissioner is beholden to a specific constituency will act more Independently than the ARL we've had where some state bodies had a voice and everyone else had to put up with what they decided was best.

Leigh.

 

[applesauce]

Intrust Super Cup Takes Shape
QRL Media

THE Queensland Rugby League and its major Competition Clubs have today committed to the 2011 Intrust Super Cup.

Following extensive negotiations with the Clubs, the QRL Board met this morning to discuss the situation.

The Clubs agreed to lodge their official applications for entry into the Competition by 5pm today.

It was also decided that the major Clubs would have a Director on the QRL Board. Rick Green will assume this role in January 2011.

With all parties now working together for the start of the new season, a draft draw has been prepared and will be issued next week.

The final make up of the Competition is subject to the receipt of satisfactory audited financials of each Club, a necessary step to ensure the long-term viability of the competing teams.

Looks like the clubs bargaining chip against the QRL is now gone...

Wonder what will now happen at tomorrows meeting (in regards to the QRL's approach).

 

[Quidgybo]

Looks like the clubs bargaining chip against the QRL is now gone...

Wonder what will now happen at tomorrows meeting (in regards to the QRL's approach).

I think the clubs realise that the IC isn't going to happen in time for them to deal directly with it for next season. So the only real choice is to sign on with the QRL for another year. But only for a year. They can revisit the situation at the end of next season after the IC is up and running.

Leigh

 

[BuffaloRules]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...o-rule-in-league/story-e6frg7mf-1225966045755

Women ready to rule in league

TWO women are set to be among the eight independent commissioners who take over the reins of rugby league by mid-February next year.

While Westpac boss Gail Kelly has been mentioned as a possible candidate, The Australian has been told the names of the women are not even known yet. The eight commissioners must be approved by News Limited, publisher of The Australian, and the ARL.

Both bodies step aside from running the game when the Australian Rugby League Commission is formed early next year.
Its new constitution is set to be approved at tomorrow's ARL annual general meeting in Sydney.

But the commission cannot come into being until the eight commissioners are finalised.
News and the ARL will this week appoint an external recruitment agency with experience in finding board members for corporations and businesses.

The agency's brief will be to put a list of names before News and the ARL by late January so selections can be made and interviews completed by mid-February.

The new 2011 season kicks off on March 11, so the ARLC will have a four-week handover period.
It is understood News and the ARL want to have two women among the eight commissioners.
But one source said that depended on the recruitment agency finding two suitable candidates.

Kelly could be one of the women. But NRL board member Katie Page will definitely not be.
Under the directions for the recruitment agency is a stipulation that no nominee can be involved with a club, a league (such as the ARL, QRL, CRL or NSWRL) or News Ltd for the past three years.
In addition, no nominee can be involved with a media company, unless he or she resigns that role. That would open the door for broadcaster Alan Jones, but he would have to step down as part-owner of the Macquarie Radio Network.

It is understood former high-profile players, administrators and politicians are not being pursued.
Some NRL clubs have already gone out and spoken to people and put forward their names as possible commissioners.
But the feeling is most of these names will not be on the final list presented next month.

The commissioners must have a proven track record in business and a couple of names who have been mentioned -- and who do tick all the boxes -- include former Qantas and TAB boss Gary Pemberton and BHP Billiton chairman and former head of NAB, Don Argus.

Commissioners will be appointed at staggered intervals -- for three, four or five years -- with two to drop off at the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, the ARL's final meeting for 2010 is not the end of the organisation. Its shell as a corporate vehicle will remain.
It is the ARL's current constitution which is being amended to form the ARLC.

But it does mean the end of the administrative road for ARL chairman Colin Love. He stood down from the NSWRL chairman's role at last Friday's AGM, at which John Chalk was elected unopposed.

This is the second article to name Gail Kelly as a possible candidate....

I wonder if she has even been approached yet?

I think she would be fantastic,but I wonder if she would have the time,
and considering she is a Saffa, i assume that she would be more of a Union fan than a RL fan?

Also, its a shame that Katie Page cant be considered -apparently she is a very capable individual, and a massive League fan to boot....

 

[Quidgybo]

Also, its a shame that Katie Page cant be considered -apparently she is a very capable individual, and a massive League fan to boot....

It needn't be the end of her involvement. There's nothing to stop her being brought back in 2014. She's only ineligible to be a commissioner for the three years after the NRL board steps down. After that, as long as she hasn't taken on a club job or invested in a media company in the interim, she's free to be nominated for the Commission.

Leigh.

 

[chefman21]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...o-rule-in-league/story-e6frg7mf-1225966045755




This is the second article to name Gail Kelly as a possible candidate....

I wonder if she has even been approached yet?

I think she would be fantastic,but I wonder if she would have the time,
and considering she is a Saffa, i assume that she would be more of a Union fan than a RL fan?

Also, its a shame that Katie Page cant be considered -apparently she is a very capable individual, and a massive League fan to boot....

She made my list. I'd also like to see Helen Clark on the IC as another well regarded, highly credible and influential female. Pretty sure she is a Warriors fan also. Annabelle Bennett from ANU, Sarah Madison from The Australia Institute, Dame Carol Kidu from PNG and Catherine Livingstone are a few others.

 

[nzkiwis]

Independent Commission comes in TOMORROW Tuesday 7/12/2010

 

[Brutus]

Big Zorba reckons that both John Fahey and John Quayle will not be on the commission.

 

[siv]

Two step process

Step 1 - ARL to vote and change its constitution to the ARLC format

Step 2 - News Ltd to agree to disolve the NRL Partership with the ARL

While we may get #1 tomorrow - we are not there until #2 is invoked

 

[TheDalek079]

so close......

 

[Parra]

As usual, Roy puts it best




As ARL fades away, blow the Last Post - and sound the alarm

December 7, 2010

Mick Madsen takes the ball up against Oldham on the 1993 Kangaroo tour.

It's sure to make old rugby league soldiers despair … behind the code's new facade of independence a TV deal gives up too much control, writes Roy Masters.

Today is the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
It is also the day the ARL will commit hara kiri, fall on its ritual sword, vote itself out of office at its annual general meeting and surrender all ruling power to an independent commission.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Tom Gorman, right, shakes hands with Jonty Parkin before a 1920s Ashes Test.

I feel an incredible sadness about this day. I know I will be compared to a Japanese soldier, living in the jungle for years, unaware the war is over, appearing occasionally to brandish my rifle at the march of progress.
The Super League war between the ARL and News Ltd did end in 1997 with a peace treaty assigning each body equal power for 20 years, after which News would exit and the ARL retain its half share, with the NRL clubs controlling the other half.
But after today, both the ARL and News will have gone seven years earlier than the loosely worded peace treaty decreed.

Lachlan Murdoch takes on the ARL during the Super League war. Photo: Phil Carrick

News wanted out because of continual battering over conflict-of-interest accusations. The ARL agreed to go because:
1. It feared a costly court action if News decided to stay and exploit the poorly written peace agreement, and 2. News's exit meant its annual $8m share of profits would deliver the game an extra $56m.
The ARL gave News everything it wanted to go - a financial package ensuring the continued viability of the Melbourne Storm, the dissolution of the ARL and a five-year extension of its first and last rights option on the broadcasting contract to 2027.
First and last rights make a powerful weapon. When a company is as big as News, the power to trump the last bidder frightens everyone from the negotiating room.
AFL celebrated the day Channel Seven's first and last rights option over its broadcasting rights expired. News parent News Corp is a thousand times more powerful than Seven.
Furthermore, league's first and last rights options are a mess. The agreements with Channel Nine, Fox Sports, Sky New Zealand and News are inter-locked and not understood.
Insofar as broadcasting rights are a code's principal source of revenue, News has gained control of the game until 2027. It can pitch the revenue at a level which controls the code's spending for the next three decades.
All that is left of the ARL is the name of new, allegedly independent body, the Australian Rugby League Commission Ltd.
The ARL's recently retired chairman Colin Love is the fall guy. Love was to be the inaugural chairman of the ARLC in a balancing act with News, with David Gallop as chief executive, although some say Gallop's appointment was inevitable because of the support for him by the NRL clubs.
As it transpired, the QRL and NRL clubs insisted no one who held a position on a league board over the past three years could sit on the commission and Love was excluded.
Love, ARL chairman for a decade, allowed Titans managing director Michael Searle and Roosters' chairman Nick Politis to do the running for an independent commission. It is something his predecessor, Ken Arthurson, would not have allowed.
But Love is a lawyer. And an honourable one. He saw his role as preserving a working relationship with News, a difficult duty considering the NRL Partnership Board had three members each from the ARL and News, meaning decisions had to be reached via consensus rather than majority vote.
He even loosened ties with journalists to counter News accusations he was leaking discussions at Partnership Board meetings.
He supported Politis's position as an ARL nominee to the board, principally because Politis is a skilled businessman. It caused him grief because News has always perceived Politis to be a cold war enemy.
Now Love is gone, replaced by the aptly named John Chalk.
Chalk will negotiate with News to select the eight commissioners to govern the game. Good luck.
Love's predecessor, Arthurson, once made a comment relevant to today.
He referred to News's surprise signing of Canterbury players on the night of Thursday March 30, 1995, after the media company had given an earlier assurance any attempts to set up a Super League would involve ''coming through the front door''.
Arthurson likened the pre-Easter attack on the ARL to the Japanese Sunday morning raid on Pearl Harbour. Yet it's the ARL which has allowed itself to be bombed out of existence with today's AGM.
Gallop will be the only one on the ARLC with any corporate memory.
A new ruling body consisting of commissioners with little historical knowledge of the game, locked into a long-term broadcasting agreement with News Ltd, will attract independent people, but not the best people.


http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...post--and-sound-the-alarm-20101206-18myt.html

 

[Fonzie]

The extension of the 'first and last rights' is the thing that concerns me. Does anyone know whether it applies to all media rights, all TV rights, or just pay TV rights?

If just pay TV, why did the NRL push so hard on the anti-siphoning legislation? If Fox isn't going to be a bidder in a competitive process until 2027, who had the vested interest in ensuring as much content as possible is available for pay TV? Arguably not the ARL...

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Just remember who suppported this idea. That's all I say. And remember who wanted to give in to the very first News/club deal. If you thought 1997 came back to bite the game give this deal a few years and see where we're at.

 

[Brutus]

The extension of the 'first and last rights' is the thing that concerns me. Does anyone know whether it applies to all media rights, all TV rights, or just pay TV rights?

..

This has always concerned me.

I'm afraid News LTD will continue to take from the game for many years to come.

 

[Rockin Ronny]

This has always concerned me.

I'm afraid News LTD will continue to take from the game for many years to come.

Yes - and their man, David Gallop, will remain as CEO to ensure their interests are taken care of.

Independent? What a joke!

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=32360&title=commission-looms-large

Commission Looms Large
ARL Media
7/12/2010 2:37:44 PM

The Annual General Meeting of the Australian Rugby League Board in Brisbane today discussed the future governance of Rugby League in Australia and has resolved to appoint independent consultants to begin the task of determining the most desirable candidates for a new Independent Commission.

Newly elected Australian Rugby League Chairman, John Chalk, said:

“There are still a few drafting issues but the Board today committed to a time frame where all of these will be resolved by next week,” Mr. Chalk said.

“Following that, the new constitution can be agreed in principle.

“It is an exciting time for the game and we are moving as quickly as possible to get the new governance structure approved and in place.”

To assist in this process the Board resolved to appoint consultants to report on the most desirable skill set needed for future Commissioners.

Following the consultant’s report, a Committee involving the ARL, News Limited and a representative from the NRL Clubs will be formed to select the Commissioners.