http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...d-progress-on-key-issues-20161122-gsv0er.html
John Grant returns to game at 'flashpoint' as clubs demand progress on key issues
Australian Rugby League Commissioner John Grant will return from a successful Four Nations to an NRL at 'flashpoint' as club chairmen demand movement on a raft of key issues during a meeting in Sydney on Wednesday.
Grant will have barely set foot off the plane from England when he fronts club bosses left frustrated by a perceived lack of action on funding and new licence agreements, two of the festering issues set to dominate much of the discussion.
Hovering on top of that is the Collective Bargaining Agreement with players, while chairmen will also want information on the savings to be passed on from the scrapping of the national under-20s competition.
Fairfax Media was told that clubs will present a united front to Grant, who has also taken some fire for the extended stay in England alongside NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.
Club chairs will also communicate their concerns at the lack of urgency on key projects and issues that are likely to have a major impact on the shape of the game over coming seasons, while clubs are also pushing for constitutional change that allows them to directly appoint representatives on the commission.
The Memorandum of Understanding about club funding is now almost 12 months old and yet to be formally finalised. Last December, the NRL trumpeted that arrangement in the wake of the $1.8 billion broadcast deal.
"From 2018, the deal will deliver more than $100 million extra per year to the 16 clubs until 2022 and around $100 million more will be invested to grow the game from the grassroots to the elite competitions each year," the NRL said then.
And Grant at the time: "It has been reached after a robust but collaborative process that maintained a clear focus on ensuring the clubs can be financially strong in the short to medium term and that investment can be directed to grow the game over the long term.
"The clubs and the commission are now entirely aligned and our fans and sponsors can get behind their clubs with the confidence that we will be around for the long term."
But that security around funding has yet to be confirmed, with one chairman saying there were lingering issues with the "flow of funds" as certain clubs tried to keep their heads above water despite the apparent television riches.
Some clubs have concerns the NRL feels they rushed into that arrangement with clubs and there may now not be enough money to go around to the various stakeholders.
But there is a consensus that the volume of work is immense and all parties will need a degree of diplomacy if the discussions are to bear fruit in the immediate future.
