BRAD WALTER
December 12, 2009 Be the first to comment
With momentum towards an independent commission for rugby league stalling this week, the 16 clubs have been called to a meeting to discuss walking away from the NRL and setting up a new competition. Brad Walter reports on the most significant meeting of rugby league's powerbrokers since the start of the Super League War.
A council-of-war meeting in Sydney next month comprising the chief executives, chairmen, coaches and captains of all 16 NRL clubs is set to consider orchestrating a ''reverse Super League'' and forming a breakaway competition if the ARL and News Ltd fail to reach agreement on an independent commission.
The high-powered meeting is the most significant in the game's history since the gathering at the SFS that ended the Super League war in 1997 and will dramatically ramp up pressure on the ARL and News Ltd to hand their 50 per cent stakes in the NRL to the clubs.
If that doesn't occur happen before the January 18 gathering at the Sheraton On The Park, the Herald has been told the clubs will considering quitting the NRL to start their own competition. It is understood lawyers have been studying the licensing agreements that bind each club to the NRL to see if they can be broken. Asked if the clubs were considering a ''reverse Super League'', one official told the Herald: ''Yes, except it will be unanimous between clubs, players and coaches. There will be no divide this time''.
Should the clubs agree to such a daring move, they are likely to have the support of News Ltd, which has been putting pressure on the ARL to finalise an deal.
With the ARL having been unable to top up the $20 million reserves it had before News Ltd's raid on the game in 1995, it is unlikely to be able to fund a court case to stop the clubs forming their own competition, which may be called Rugby League Australia.
Even if the clubs were unable to break away now, they could do so when their NRL licensing agreements expire in 2012 - the same year the game's television deals and other major financial deals also finish.
Without access to the game's elite players, the NSW and Queensland Rugby Leagues would not be able to run State of Origin or other representative fixtures.
ARL officials insist they are working towards an agreement with News Ltd before the start of the season but frustrated clubs believe they are stalling after a board meeting in Brisbane this week failed to agree on conditions negotiated with News Ltd by those driving the independent commission.
''It is a long time since everyone was united on one cause,'' one club CEO told the Herald.
One official involved in the negotiations told the Herald the independent commission would either be in place by the start of the 2010 season in March - ''or it won't happen at all''. NSWRL and QRL directors at Tuesday's ARL board meeting in Brisbane declared their support for the formation of an independent commission but expressed concerns about the structure and the safeguards for preserving representative football and junior development.
Under the proposed model for the independent commission, the 16 clubs would elect eight independent commissioners to run the game and the ARL would be wound up. To gain appointment, a commissioner would have to win 75 per cent support from the clubs. Commissioners would be unable to sit on the board or have a role with any club or league body. However, the first commission will be appointed by News Ltd and the ARL, with ARL chairman Colin Love to be inaugural chairman of the new body for a period of one or two years.
NRL chief executive David Gallop will perform the same position for the new body, which is to be known as the ARL commission.
In exchange for handing back the game, News Ltd wants to extend the company's first-and-last rights of refusal deal until 2027, which is five years longer than the agreement negotiated during the peace talks that led to the end of the Super League war in 1997. News Ltd also wants a $20m exit fee that will be funnelled back into the Melbourne Storm to cover the club's projected losses for the next six years. Without such a guarantee, it is unlikely the Storm will be able to find another owner to buy the club from News Ltd.
December 12, 2009 Be the first to comment
With momentum towards an independent commission for rugby league stalling this week, the 16 clubs have been called to a meeting to discuss walking away from the NRL and setting up a new competition. Brad Walter reports on the most significant meeting of rugby league's powerbrokers since the start of the Super League War.
A council-of-war meeting in Sydney next month comprising the chief executives, chairmen, coaches and captains of all 16 NRL clubs is set to consider orchestrating a ''reverse Super League'' and forming a breakaway competition if the ARL and News Ltd fail to reach agreement on an independent commission.
The high-powered meeting is the most significant in the game's history since the gathering at the SFS that ended the Super League war in 1997 and will dramatically ramp up pressure on the ARL and News Ltd to hand their 50 per cent stakes in the NRL to the clubs.
If that doesn't occur happen before the January 18 gathering at the Sheraton On The Park, the Herald has been told the clubs will considering quitting the NRL to start their own competition. It is understood lawyers have been studying the licensing agreements that bind each club to the NRL to see if they can be broken. Asked if the clubs were considering a ''reverse Super League'', one official told the Herald: ''Yes, except it will be unanimous between clubs, players and coaches. There will be no divide this time''.
Should the clubs agree to such a daring move, they are likely to have the support of News Ltd, which has been putting pressure on the ARL to finalise an deal.
With the ARL having been unable to top up the $20 million reserves it had before News Ltd's raid on the game in 1995, it is unlikely to be able to fund a court case to stop the clubs forming their own competition, which may be called Rugby League Australia.
Even if the clubs were unable to break away now, they could do so when their NRL licensing agreements expire in 2012 - the same year the game's television deals and other major financial deals also finish.
Without access to the game's elite players, the NSW and Queensland Rugby Leagues would not be able to run State of Origin or other representative fixtures.
ARL officials insist they are working towards an agreement with News Ltd before the start of the season but frustrated clubs believe they are stalling after a board meeting in Brisbane this week failed to agree on conditions negotiated with News Ltd by those driving the independent commission.
''It is a long time since everyone was united on one cause,'' one club CEO told the Herald.
One official involved in the negotiations told the Herald the independent commission would either be in place by the start of the 2010 season in March - ''or it won't happen at all''. NSWRL and QRL directors at Tuesday's ARL board meeting in Brisbane declared their support for the formation of an independent commission but expressed concerns about the structure and the safeguards for preserving representative football and junior development.
Under the proposed model for the independent commission, the 16 clubs would elect eight independent commissioners to run the game and the ARL would be wound up. To gain appointment, a commissioner would have to win 75 per cent support from the clubs. Commissioners would be unable to sit on the board or have a role with any club or league body. However, the first commission will be appointed by News Ltd and the ARL, with ARL chairman Colin Love to be inaugural chairman of the new body for a period of one or two years.
NRL chief executive David Gallop will perform the same position for the new body, which is to be known as the ARL commission.
In exchange for handing back the game, News Ltd wants to extend the company's first-and-last rights of refusal deal until 2027, which is five years longer than the agreement negotiated during the peace talks that led to the end of the Super League war in 1997. News Ltd also wants a $20m exit fee that will be funnelled back into the Melbourne Storm to cover the club's projected losses for the next six years. Without such a guarantee, it is unlikely the Storm will be able to find another owner to buy the club from News Ltd.
