A New Era in Rugby League: For Better or Worse
December 24th 2010 12:38
A New Era in Rugby League:
For Better or Worse
For Better or Worse
It took a five hour meeting at NSWRL headquarters in Phillip St on Tuesday for League’s co-owners, News Limited and the Australian Rugby League, to formalise the game’s new governing body.
The dubbed ‘Independent Commission’ will now come into being in time for the kick-off of the NRL season 2011. It will see, for the first time in 103 years, Australian Rugby League being controlled by one body, in contrast to the current sporadic rulers; the NRL, ARL, NSWRL, QRL and CRL.
More importantly, the formation of the Independent Commission will finally remove the last fragmented remains of the Super League War. The resulting peace treaty which saw the National Rugby League entity created, bound by the tentative partnership between News Limited and the ARL, will come to an end.
After a controversial involvement in the game, which sensationally began in 1995, News Limited’s influence over Australian Rugby League has finally dissolved. Its vastly reduced role will see its continued participation in only two forms; it will continue providing financial support to its team the Melbourne Storm and it reserves the first and last rights to television deals.
Far more saddening however, is the fact that News Limited’s withdrawal from the game requires the ARL to disband. Subject to the guidelines established by all parties in coming to an agreement on the establishment of the Independent Commission, the existence of the ARL will cease. From its initial incarnation as the NSWRL, the ARL has governed the code for 102 years.
With the ARL soon to be gone, Australian Rugby League now marches into a brave new era.
The effect the Independent Commission will have on the game is uncertain to predict, but certainly a great deal of effort has gone into getting its new constitution right. Regardless of whether it will be a success or not, it is without question that the establishment of the commission has created a lot of excitement.
‘It is a historic day.’ new ARL Chairman John Chalk announced when being interviewed by the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday 15th December 2010. ‘This decision can bring the game into a new era of Rugby League.’
The question is; can and will this era bear new fruit?
More decisive with his words was Manly-Warringah boss Graham Lowe, who said; ‘Obviously it’s a historic step but I would like to remind all those who do get put into positions of influence that they are only the guardians of the game, they don’t own it.’
His sentiments appear to be shared by all current NRL club CEOs and a great deal of emphasis has gone into making the commission able to achieve the best outcomes for the game.
The general feeling is that for many decades now, Rugby League in this country has been held back by its own administrations. There is no doubt about that. Of course much of that can be attributed to the events of Super League and the resulting peace treaty. But even Super League was a result of frustration at the lack of modernisation and apparent stagnation by the games governing body at the time.
It seems now; amplified by the intrusions of the professional and money laden outfits of Rugby Union and the AFL that a mechanism must be adopted in which the game is to be run by an optimum group of people.
This leads to the Commissions first step; finding the inaugural eight commissioners to lead it.
Held since its initial concept, the purpose of the Independent Commission is to have a group of highly successful people, mainly businessmen, control the game. The idea is that these people, with a wealth of professional, financial and marketing experience will lend these talents in promoting the game.
It is, in essence, a similar structure to the AFL’s version of their independent commission that came into being a decade ago.
Whether this theory proves successful of not, the list of potential ‘commissioners’ prophesied so far is promising. Obviously the game is hoping to attract the ‘cream of the crop’ to govern the code from this moment onwards.
So far the list of candidates include former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh, former ARL Chief Executive John Quayle, Former NSW Premier and member of the Howard Government John Fahey and radio broadcaster and former Wallabies and Balmain coach Alan Jones.
From a fans perspective though, the resulting eight members of the commission are irrelevant. The most prevalent issue is that this new governing body benefits the game and allows it to become as great as it can be.
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