http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-in-rugby-league/story-e6frexnr-1226008678204
Why Nathan Tinkler is the most feared man in rugby league
NATHAN Tinkler is the most feared man in rugby league. Forget Russell Crowe, David Gallop and even supercoach Wayne Bennett, the new force in the NRL is Tinkler. He can change the rules of engagement with one phone call.
He has become the code's modern-day Kerry Packer - and money talks.
Kade Snowden has had a first-hand taste of Tinkler's persuasive powers.
His Sharks team-mates will tell you his phone call from Tinkler came around midnight last Wednesday.
There wasn't so much an offer from one of the richest men in Australia, but a request.
"Just hold off signing until we speak," Tinkler is believed to have told Snowden.
Money wasn't even spoken about. Yet here we are a few days later with Snowden holed up with his parents in Newcastle pondering his next step.
That's power. And because of it, Tinkler has every NRL chief executive looking over their shoulder. And the burning question is: who is next on the mining magnate's shopping list?
Is it Jamal Idris, Michael Ennis, Darius Boyd?
How do you stop a bloke used to getting his own way? How do you stop a multimillionaire who plays by his own rules?
At 34, Tinkler is the richest man in Australia under 40 with $610 million.
He owns the Newcastle Jets A-League team, the Patinack racing empire, a share in Dick Johnson racing, beachside mansions and a garage full of cars.
Within a month, he could own the
Newcastle Knights.
And he plays hard ball. Tinkler has threatened to pull his $100 million offer to buy the Knights because of delays in the process. These bully tactics are nothing new. His aggression at the negotiating table has proven a popular talking point in recent days.
"He's young, loaded and knows exactly what he wants - it can lead to a certain amount of ignorance," one leading player manager said.
It's been said that Tinkler was overseas when he first learned that Snowden, a Knights junior, had accepted a deal to stay at the Sharks.
The White Whale erupted. "If we can't get a former Newcastle junior back to Newcastle, then what hope have we got?" he supposedly roared.
Gallop wasn't willing to comment on Tinkler, but he rejected suggestions the NRL was powerless to stop people like Tinkler from tearing apart the game's pillars such as the salary cap.
"At the end of the day there's still a salary cap for clubs to work under," Gallop said. But One leading club CEO isn't so sure.
"I think the NRL really needs to make a clear decision on where the game is going with private investors like Tinkler," he told The Sunday Telegraph last week on the condition of anonymity.
Yesterday, the Knights released a statement from chief executive Steve Burraston reiterating their position on the Snowden saga.
They withdrew their offer to Snowden on February 9 and any offer after that date was made by a third party unknown to the club.
Burraston also said the pursuit of Snowden would "cause significant cap issues for the club". Time will tell if that means anything to Tinkler.
All of a sudden we could become the Silvertails of the NRL..... How many years have we struggled and struggled to attract any high profile players and coaches to our club??? Its our turn now
