I’m baffled, bemused and bewildered. Everywhere I turn there is the use of the initials IC in rugby league. Now this mythical beast, the IC, must be an amazing thing, after all everyone is so excited by it.
Rugby league fans on mass have decided that this will revolutionise the game; all of a sudden we will be able to spin pure gold from the fog off the Blue Mountains, the rain clouds over ANZ/Telstra/Stadium Australia/ [Insert naming rights for failed stadium here] will drop diamonds, hopefully not cut as that would get messy in the uncovered sections, and everyone person in Shanghai will be able to associate the number six with a five eight.
The only problem is no one seems to actually know what the IC is. Oh sure we know it is an Independent Commission, but outside of that we are clueless. Most of us would be able to more intelligently answer questions as to the social structure of regional China in 1422 than how the IC will be formed.
It is like a real estate agent has come up to us and said we have a million dollar house for sale and we’ve bought it without knowing where the house is, how big it is or what condition it is in.
Apparently who runs it, how they are appointed, how they are held accountable, to whom they are accountable, what it will be focused on and how much it costs to run are questions that need not be answered before we throw the full weight of our support behind it.
The only model I have seen that has had enough detail to be remotely credible has been the clubs electing the commission which means a sport which has thrived on being able to deliver new exciting juniors every year is going to be directed by clubs so short sighted that they needed a hard salary cap to stop themselves from imploding under the weight of their own stupidity.
But this is the brain child of the wunderkind Mr Searle surely it can’t fail. After all we’ll just ignore that Searle is so consumed by the grand vision of his legacy that he has been willing to risk the financial future of the Titan’s.
Though I shouldn’t worry, this is apparently the great fail-safe model that has been trotted out across the big American sports, the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.
But in each of those models the league does not have control of junior development and is serviced via a draft. Yet we are handing over junior development blind folded to the IC.
Under each of those models the sport has had a season called short or completely abandoned due to a strike. Yet we still cry poor over super league where at least we actually had a season of rugby league to watch.
Each of these models runs the game exclusively for the benefit of the clubs not fans. And yet we are calling for this to try and change the attitude of the exact clubs we are going to empower.
I’m not against the IC in principle, but wouldn’t it be nice to know what it actually is before we rubber stamp it?
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The Crowd Says (4) | Page 1 of Comments
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May 28th 2010 @ 8:15am
Paul J said | May 28th 2010 @ 8:15am | Report comment
I can understand fans frustration at the delay of the IC. Here is some clarification as i see it.
“is going to be directed by clubs so short sighted..”
The clubs will have ZERO power with the decision making and direction of RL. The inital 8 commissioners will be elected by the ARL & News Ltd. They pick four commissioners each and every commissioner must be agreed to by both parties.
For the rest of RL history the 16 clubs and the QRL & NSWRL will nominate and vote on new commissioners. Apart from having a vote for a new commissioner the 16 clubs and the QRL & NSWRL will have ZERO influence on the decision making of the IC.
“we are handing over junior development blind folded to the IC.”
The QRL will look after junior development in QLD, the NSWRL will look after junior development in NSW, the same as always. The difference is that the IC will decide how much money from the pool will be allocated to the QRL & NSWRL & the clubs. Basically the IC will decide how much goes to junior development, salary cap, expansion, internation footy etc.
The real beauty of the IC is that it will be completely devoid of self interest, unlike the clubs and current governing bodies that all naturally look out for number one before they look out for the betterment of the game as a whole.
Other advantages are the removal of the conflict of interest with News part owning the game and Foxtel.
Saving $ millions by streamlining all the governing bodies into one.
The problem is the QRL. The NSWRL is in the red and immediately agreed to the IC with all the clubs. The QRL has vigorous leadership and are $ millions in the black and they have fought hard to delay the IC so they can keep their power as long as possible. It was the NSWRL contingent that got the ARL vote over the line to agree in principal to an IC back in March.
Once the QRL finally gives the IC the green light, hopefully this Oct, then the ARL & News can start the process of electing the first 8 commissioners.
May 28th 2010 @ 9:36am
Rodney McDonell said | May 28th 2010 @ 9:36am | Report comment
A better question would have been, “Where is the IC”. I think wek now what it is. At the moment, it’s nothing. That’s qutie clear and has been quite clear for sometime.
May 28th 2010 @ 9:37am
Rodney McDonell said | May 28th 2010 @ 9:37am | Report comment
The QRL doesn’t need to give it the Green Light. The ARL has already agreed in principle to the IC – but that was before the salary cap scandle. I’m unsure if it is effected by it but you’d have to assume finding an investor for the Storm would be a little bit harder now and thus News LTD may be unwilling to relinquish control given that they remain committed to getting the Storm back to the position where they were.
May 28th 2010 @ 12:38pm
Paul J said | May 28th 2010 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
This is what Colin Love said it the ARL statement in March.
“The ARL believes that the in-principle agreement arrived at today will deliver a truly independent commission to run rugby league.”
That sounds great but then he said:
“Both partners have committed to regular meetings to work through each of the points that will need to be discussed and the complex legal agreements that are involved. People need to understand the there is still a lot of work ahead.”
They appease the fans by saying they’ll make the IC happen but then cover their butts by saying there is no guarantee as to when the IC will happen.
The problem is that the ARL & News have been at war since 1995, neither seem willing to give an inch in the meetings to get the IC up and running.
News have agreed to give the game back but in their usual style they have put in demands to try and screw the game as much as they can on the way out. They want $30 million given as a safe guard for the Storm.
You make a good point Rodney in that the Storm salary cap debacle has changed things in the eyes of the QRL and they now are using it as leverage to get the safe guard for the Storm to be dramatically reduced.
All we can do is hope the warring parties can come to an agreement asap. The longer they argue over this the more it hurts the game. One or both have to make a concession for the good of the game.