.News
Clubs move to seize back power

by: By Phil Rothfield, Sports Editor-At-Large

From: The Daily Telegraph August 14, 2012 12:00AM

NRL clubs have moved to seize back control and authority in the game from an under-performing independent commission.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal all 16 clubs have formed what is to be known as the "NRL Council" to tackle the ARL Commission as a powerful lobby group on big issues including the television broadcasting deal.

Commission chairman John Grant has agreed to the high level interaction with the clubs, after meeting their representative, Wests Tigers chairman David Trodden, last week.

From this month, the chairman or chief executive from every club will be represented at quarterly meetings with the commissioners.

A leaked email reveals the clubs will meet at St George Leagues Club today to propose an agenda for the first showdown on August 27.

The clubs have been complaining for some time about the commission's lack of progress and communication since it came into power six months ago.

That the clubs will form the agenda for each council meeting shows the clout they are now carrying.

The anticipated $1 billion TV deal, refereeing problems and next year's salary cap and annual grant will be the main items for discussion at the first meeting.

"The clubs will insist the TV deal is not signed off on until they are made aware of all details," said one prominent club official. "It's the biggest commercial agreement in the history of the game and we'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb.

"The last time this was done, we got no detail or information until it had already been done."

Trodden emailed the 16 clubs last week with details of his recent discussions with Grant which were aimed at getting more power and influence for the clubs.

It follows criticism at the lack of rugby league knowledge on the commission and its failure to properly communicate with stakeholders.

The commission and the NRL have been painstakingly private since coming into power, leaving the perception that nothing is being done.

The 16 clubs are certainly looking for more open dialogue and exchange of ideas on the future of the game.

"After significant discussion with the commissioners (through John Grant), we have reached a consensus regarding how the high-level interaction between the ARLC and the clubs (as a group) should operate," Trodden wrote in his email to the clubs."Essentially, the suggestion is that the meetings should be between the commissioners and all of the clubs, rather than a representative group of the clubs as was previously suggested.

"It is proposed that the group will meet on a quarterly basis. The group will be known as the NRL Council.

The clubs are also seeking to provide input on the appointment of the next chief executive to replace David Gallop.

There is now a suggestion the commission has all but ruled out a current club chief executive getting the job. "Which CEO from the 16 clubs could, hand on heart, say they've never done a suspect deal with a player manager?" one official said. "If it's true that's the case, how could you put any of them in charge of the game?"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/clubs-move-to-seize-back-power/story-e6freuy9-1226449639437

NRL out to poach AFL's No. 2 man Gillon McLachlan to replace David Gallop as NRL CEO

by: Andrew Hamilton
From: The Courier-Mail
August 17, 2012 3:45PM

THE NRL are trying to poach the AFL's No. 2 man Gillon McLachlan.
It is understood the committee established by the NRL's newly formed independent commission have made contact with McLachlan about switching codes to serve as the new CEO of the NRL.

David Gallop was sacked as CEO in June following a falling out with ARLC chairman John Grant.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said he did not want to lose McLachlan but was not surprised the rival code had made a play for his highly regarded deputy.

The NRL job might appeal to McLachlan who is ambitious and had seen himself as Demetriou's successor.

And Demtriou's recent claims that he intended to continue in the role may have convinced McLachlan to pursue other opportunities.

Demetriou said today McLachlan was in Sydney yesterday to meet with media partners, not the AFL's biggest rival.

"I don't know (if he is going), I hope not," Demetriou said on 3AW.

"It would be surprising to me if someone hadn't spoken to him, or hadn't approached him because he is a very talented.

"He is a very dedicated AFL person, loves the game and has been a great servant to myself and the game for 12 years.

"I hope he sticks around - absolutely (we would fight to keep him)."

But Demetriou also said he had no plans to step down and pass the batton to McLachlan in the near future.

"My future as far as AFL football is pretty much certain," Demetriou said.

"I have committed myself, I have got unfinished business and I made that statement before I left.

"(I want to stay) indefinitely, because I look forward to the challenges ahead.

"We have got 18 clubs, we want to have 18 sustainable, profitable football clubs.

"There are a lot of challenges going forward - and that is a good thing that they are ambitious."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-out-to-poach-afls-no-2-man-gillon-mclachlan-to-replace-david-gallop-as-nrl-ceo/story-e6frexnr-1226452733912

However the former grand final whistleblower did admit to another error - accepting that video referee Paul Simpkins' decision to award a 37th minute four-pointer to Melbourne's Sisa Waqa in the Storm's defeat of Brisbane was the incorrect call because the winger had knocked the ball on.

"Unfortunately we got that one wrong as well," Harrigan said.

League's Rob Inglis cops 20-year ban

SaveBy Matt McLennan Aug. 24, 2012, midnight

The Sharks will continue to back Rob Inglis.

.A PORT Macquarie Sharks player has been banned from rugby league for 20 years, after he threatened to harm a referee.

See your ad hereRob Inglis will be eligible to play rugby league again on July 28, 2032, after he was found guilty at a Group 2 hearing on Tuesday night.

Inglis was charged with threatening to physically harm a refeee during a recent match.
Group 2 chief administration officer Jim Anderson declined to go into detail about the case when contacted by the Port News.

“Any appeal will be heard through Country Rugby League,” he said. “It’s out of the hands of Group 2.”

Anderson made the following statement to the Port News in the August 8 edition: “The referees made a complaint that the player threatened to stab and kill him.”

He also said he was unable to make any further comment.

Sharks president Steve Manton said the club would continue to back its player.

See your ad here“We’ll certainly be supportive of all our players, whatever happens,” he said.

Manton stressed that, while he wasn’t present at Tuesday’s hearing, he thought barring any player for that long was “unfair”.

There was no word yesterday as to whether Inglis would appeal his ban to the Country Rugby League.

http://www.portnews.com.au/story/248487/leagues-rob-inglis-cops-20-year-ban/?cs=257

CQ NRL bid hits 40K membership mark

Breaking NewsAugust 25, 2012

CQ NRL bid hits 40K membership mark

by Tony Harper

The Central Queensland NRL expansion bid says it has reached 40,000 members and CEO Denis Keeffe has called on local league fans to push the number higher.

The Australian Rugby League Commission kept expansion on the backburner when it announced the new $1.025 billion broadcast rights deal midweek but did suggest it would be considered under a strategic plan currently being prepared.

Keeffe says the membership figure ticked over 40,000 on Friday.

“To reach 40,000 bid members is a fantastic achievement given when we first spoke with former NRL CEO David Gallop he said 30,000 people would be compelling,”Keeffe said. “Now is not the time to sit back and rest on our laurels though so I’d encourage all those CQ NRL Bid supporters out there to get on to our website and sign up to be a Bid Member. Our next goal now is to get that number over 50,000.”

CQ is up against several other bids including West Coast Pirates, Brisbane Bombers and Central Coast Bears. Officials from those three bids joined CQ in welcoming the new rights

http://sportsbusinessinsider.com.au/news/category/financial-and-governance/cq-nrl-bid-hits-40k-membership-mark/

Queensland clubs on radar as PNG looks to get foot in NRL door

From: The Australian September 26, 2012 5:10PM

BUYING into an NRL team looms as a serious option for the Papua New Guinea government - although it hasn't given up on eventually having its own team in the competition.
Rugby league is hugely popular amongst PNG's seven million inhabitants and it's the only country that has the code as its national sport, but co-ordination between teams, the game's governing body and the government has in the past stymied growth opportunities.

PNG sports minister Justin Tkatchenko is now hopeful a meeting of the game's stakeholders and their international counterparts in late November will act as a catalyst for change and growth in the sport in his country.

"The game is stuck, that's what we're facing right now," Tkatchenko said.

"If we can't get in on the NRL by setting up our own team - look at the logistics, it's going to cost an absolute fortune - but if we can get in (an Australian) team that's already set up with all the facilities there with a team that's on the way up ... then why try and re-create the wheel that's already there?"

...PNG reportedly backed away from a $20 million sell off of the Gold Coast Titans last March, amid reports Prime Minister Peter O'Neill had baulked at the club's $35 million debt.

Newly appointed chairman for the PNG bid, Powes Parkop, is now keen to buy into either the Brisbane Broncos or North Queensland Cowboys, believing there is a great opportunity to collaborate with Australian clubs given the untapped talent in the country.

And as the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, John Grant, has all but ruled out expansion until at least the next TV rights deal in 2018 - collaboration appears PNG's best way forward for now.

There does at least appear to be money around to finance involvement in the game.

The previous PNG government of Michael Somare had put up Kina 20 million ($9.29 million) to finance getting a team into the NRL while Ausaid put up significant funds to aid development of the game in 2009 - funds that remain untouched because of dysfunctional management within the code.

PNG's NRL bid chief executive Brad Tassell said he is happy the government is renewing its efforts to professionalise the game.

"There is no structure to the game in the country, it's a bit fractious," Tassell said.

"We're really happy we have a minister for sport who is really involved ... and we're happy to come to the table."

PNG on Sunday went down 24-18 against the Australian PM's XIII in Port Moresby.

AAP

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/queensland-clubs-on-radar-as-png-looks-to-get-foot-in-nrl-door/story-fnca0von-1226482023839

THE superb playing career of Andrew Johns was last night immortalised in history when he was inducted into the most exclusive club in rugby league.

As expected, Johns was revealed as the eighth Immortal at the black-tie Men of League function in Sydney, surrounded by the surviving inductees and greats of the game.

They included those he beat: Ron Coote, Norm Provan and Mal Meninga, all of whom would not have looked out of place alongside Johns.

***

UPDATE: 12.51pm:

Readers of this website are fuming that Johns was made an Immortal despite a long track record of off-field indiscretions, including drug use and racial slurs.

Almost two thirds of respondents in our website poll (below) say Mal Meninga is more deserving of being crowned an Immortal.

Likewise, LeagueCentral.com.au has been inundated with anti-Johns comments (also see below).

What's your take on the matter? Let us know below.

***

The former Kangaroos, NSW and Newcastle halfback looked genuinely stunned and humbled when NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell announced his inclusion.

Johns becomes an Immortal alongside the late Clive Churchill and Arthur Beetson, Johnny Raper, Reg Gasnier, Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands and Wally Lewis.

The 38-year-old won two premierships with the Knights, in 1997 and 2001, and also helped engineer series wins for the Blues and Kangaroos. But his real contribution came in the way he changed halfback play with an all-round game that is unlikely to ever be equalled.

Of course, the induction of Johns will polarise opinion.

The growing belief throughout this week that Johns would gain immortality stirred a chorus of discontent from those who argued he should have been excluded for admitting he had used recreational drugs during his career.

Johns referred to his troubled past when he delivered an emotional acceptance speech last night.

"I don't feel like I am worthy," Johns said.

"There are things, if I could do it all again, I would change, without a doubt. I've learnt from those things. As incredibly tough as they were, they make you the person you are.

"Rugby league has given me everything. I'd hate to see where I was without it. It still gives me so much."

The sole judging criteria to gain entry to the coveted group, ever since Rugby League Week devised the Immortals concept in 1981, has been restricted to whatever a player achieved on the field.

Whatever he did off the field, good or bad, had to be forgotten.

Nevertheless, Raper had been of the opinion that Johns should not be considered because of his drug use when the 18-strong judging panel met three months ago. But the St George legend appeared to soften that stance yesterday.

"When you take a look at it not every player is an angel," Raper told Sky Sport Radio. "I don't see why you should take it off someone who gets in a little bit of trouble. Andrew Johns got in a little bit of trouble, but he should be considered for what he did on the field."

I love him being named an immortal, just for the laughs butt hurt Queenslanders provide.

I'm not going to get into it to much, the fact that Johns spent the majoriety of his career playing second fiddle in the NSW origin team says a lot.

I'm not going to get into it to much, the fact that Johns spent the majoriety of his career playing second fiddle in the NSW origin team says a lot.

:lol: One of the funniest things I've heard. Who exactly did he play 2nd fiddle to? Not quite sure how you can play 23 games for NSW as 2nd fiddle to someone else.

The only times I can remember him not playing was because he had major injuries.
The fact that Newcastle were premiership contenders when he played and couldn't win a game without him is why he should be considered an immortal.

A Sydney newspaper report on Friday morning made the point that "Johns won many important battles over the Maroons". Did he? In Johns' first origin series, against Fatty Vautin's "Nevilles" in 1995, his team were spanked 3-0. His next four origins were at hooker, with Geoff Toovey claiming the No.7 jersey. In 2000, he couldn't make the run-on team, with Brett Kimmorley preferred at halfback. It wasn't until 2002, seven years after his origin debut, that Johns started to impose himself on that level of the game. Compare that with 20 year-old birthday boy Mal Meninga's seven goal performance in the first origin match in 1980. (I seem to remember Allan Langer also hit the ground running in the first of his 34 origins).

Right. So just because NSW lost the series 3-0 means Johns was second fiddle in his NSW team?

Just because Meninga kicked 7 goals in a game means Johns is a second fiddle man? Please, FFS, if a team scored 10 tries under the posts and I kicked them all, does that mean I'm a great player? (I know Mal was a great player, but that snippet of an article poses a ridiculous argument.)

No playing behind Toovey and Kimmorley shows that he was second fiddle.

I still think Johns is worthy of the award but it wasn't his time. Why has he been pushed ahead of Provan and Mal? Johns isn't even in the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. FFS.

What a brilliant Grand Final

WOOT!! Like to see the NRL TRY and take this one off of us..

GO U STORM BOYs,,,,

Edited by unitedgal: 30/9/2012 08:55:41 PM

Like I've been saying to everyone who says this...It wasnt the NRL who cheated.

Mate don't you understand, it's the NRL's fault for punishing cheats. I mean how dare they.

Just on the game, well done to Melbourne just too good in the enbd. First half killed us, 2nd half was much better but just didn't have enough in the end.

Also, what the fuck has happened to Smith's goal kicking. That penalty miss that hit the post was one of the worst misses I have ever seen.