NEWS Ltd will exit rugby league within the next few days, 16 years since the Super League split. The media company, publisher of
The Daily Telegraph, is close to signing off on all relevant legal documentation before walking away as early as this Friday.
It is understood News Ltd has internal plans to depart rugby league by the end of the week but delays in processing the complex legal paperwork mean it may take until Tuesday.
Either way, News Ltd and the ARL are within days of handing rugby league over to the independent commission.
Commissioners may not necessarily start the same day News Ltd leaves but the new era isn't far away.
"We hope it is sooner rather than later - we want this to happen as quickly as possible," ARL chairman John Chalk said.
"We are hoping for next week but, at the moment, we're really in the hands of the lawyers."
News Ltd formed the Super League breakaway competition on April 1, 1995. In 1998, News Ltd and the ARL merged their competitions to form the NRL.