QRL softens its stance on clubs gaining vote majority
BRAD WALTER AND GLENN JACKSON
February 25, 2010
Further steps towards an independent commission are expected to be made at a meeting today between ARL and News Ltd representatives, with Queensland officials believed to have softened their stance on the terms for the new body to run the game.
The meeting is the first since the ARL board two weeks ago resolved to appoint two delegates each from NSW and Queensland to expedite negotiations for News to surrender its 50 per cent stake in the NRL.
After initially insisting that the ARL should retain its share and appoint four of the eight commissioners, the QRL is now thought to be more relaxed about the prospect of the 16 NRL clubs having a majority vote following talks with AFL officials.
QRL boss Ross Livermore has confirmed speaking to former Queensland AFL director Peter Cummiskey about how the independent commission works in his code, while Queensland director John Ribot is believed to be planning to talk to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou.
Under the AFL model, the clubs have sole responsibility for electing the commissioners.
The NRL clubs want to have the same voting rights but a compromise proposal discussed by ARL chairman Colin Love and chief executive Geoff Carr at their last meeting with News Ltd chief operating officer Peter Macourt provides for the NSWRL and QRL to also be given a vote each.
As a result, there would be 18 votes, with the clubs having one vote each, meaning that a commissioner would require 14 votes to gain 75 per cent of the ballot required for election.
More significantly, the NSWRL and QRL would be able to veto any constitutional change, as only two votes are required to veto any proposal along those lines.
The ARL will be represented at today's meeting with Macourt by Love, Carr and two QRL directors, Terry Mackenroth and Bruce Hatcher.
Meanwhile, the form of NRL superstars Jarryd Hayne and Billy Slater is behind the move to devise a new ''downtown'' rule, designed to give every fullback more room from kick returns.
Referees boss Robert Finch yesterday made no secret of the fact that the success of the leading fullbacks in the competition last season - and the resultant tactics by coaches to counteract them - prompted the crackdown on opposition players being offside when chasing kicks.
Under the new rule, players who stray in front of the play-the-ball before the ball has passed over their heads from a kick will be called offside by the referees, and penalised if they continue to advance. Finch admitted the purpose of the rule change was to give the likes of Parramatta's Hayne, Melbourne's Slater and the Cowboys' Matt Bowen more time than they have had before to take kicks from general play - not attacking chips, bombs or grubbers.
''If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile,'' Finch said, referring to the players who head ''downtown''. ''If they stop and don't continue to run, we're comfortable with that, but when the kick goes, those fullbacks and wingers should get the space that they deserve.''
Finch believes some coaches have identified the impact of dynamic fullbacks running from the back, and have attempted to nullify them through the tactic.
''Coaches are not silly, and they look at the attacking options of the side they're playing,'' Finch said. ''They look to try and minimise the opportunity for those players to show their wares.
''I'm not expecting them [fullbacks and wingers] to get anything other than what they deserve. If it's a kick and they're onside chasers, that's what they deserve. But what they don't deserve is these players who are downtown and offside cutting down their options - not only ringing them but also cutting down their ability to attack from that position.
''I'm sure most of the people who go to watch would like to see these blokes play footy.
''The thing is, if we kept going down that path, the next minute there's more blokes downtown, and the next minute they've got no room, or they've got all these faces in front of them, and they don't know who's onside and who's offside.
''We're just being proactive about ensuring that we don't go any further with it.''
