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Chris Sandow celebrates his try during the round 21 NRL match against the Canterbury Bulldogs. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay
We have all been waiting patiently for the Independent Commission to get up and running. Everybody recognises its importance for the next stage of the game’s growth. But it has to be done properly.
I have a real fear that the current structure being proposed will in the long run lead to the same bureaucracy that has plagued our great game, and created the mismanagement that has held us back in recent times.
Underpinning this view is the fact that commissioners under this new structure will elect new commissioners to the board through succession planning.
How can there be any real accountability when they are answerable to themselves?
I know that clubs will have the right to remove a commissioner if there is just cause, but the clubs really only represent a small part of the rugby league community.
In essence, this process is flawed and will result in a significant power shift to clubs which may not necessarily be in the interests of all levels of rugby league long term. Good governance is what is needed to take the game forward.
It won’t be successful if it is not structured to suit the needs of all stakeholders in the game.
I think NRL club members should be eligible to both vote for commissioners (provided they have held a membership for at least three NRL seasons consecutively) and nominate to become a commissioner (again under the same above minimum criteria and other essential board member criteria that would be set-up in the commission charter).
The benefit that this would bring is true independence. It would ensure that stakeholders have a say in the running of the game and in my opinion bring the best candidates into the picture (those that would not otherwise get a look in as they are not in NRL cliques).
One only has to look at the current squabbling now by both News Limited and the ARL to know that this process is compromised and flawed.
If you need any more evidence have a look at the comments from South’s CEO Shane Richardson regarding the potential Lions tour for 2012. “Gone are the days when the English tell us they are going to have a tour and we acquiesce to it. It’s about protection of the players’ interests.
“It’s about protection of how many games they play. From the clubs’ point of view, too many times in the past they have been taken for granted that they’re just going to rubber-stamp things.
“Really that shouldn’t happen. What was pleasing last Tuesday was that the NRL got us involved in discussions regarding it.
“Moving forward with the commission it won’t be the way it was before, where decisions are made (by the Rugby League International Federation) in Singapore or Hong Kong without discussions with the clubs.
“It won’t happen again.”
It is already beginning and the Commission is not even up and running yet… let’s fix this before it is too late!
TV rights have been talked to death on this site since the AFL was able to overachieve on its last two TV deals. It is no coincidence that the AFL was able to achieve this. Their deals are built of the back of a strong and unified management that is able to sell the future prospects of their game better than we can.
There is no point arguing that the NRL out rates the AFL. This was the case the last time our deal went to the table. When TV companies look at rights they have one eye on the future and one eye on the present. The AFL sells its growth strategies better than we can and this is why they are able to keep growing their deals. This is why an effective independent commission is essential.
This will at a minimum give us a pro-active and unified management structure that will help us better sell the story of our game and its future direction. That in itself though is only half the battle. Where we can really grow our revenue streams through TV is through differentiating ourselves from our competitors.
Implementing the following points of differentiation will result in a deal that in my opinion will not only match the AFL’s current deal, but will eclipse it:
1. Multi-casting of Friday night football and Monday night football on both pay and FTA TV. This will increase the value of our product twofold. Firstly, Friday night football is currently being restricted to two states. Pay TV recognise the value of Friday night football and would pay a lot of money for access to this timeslot, particularly in the states where Channel Nine currently do not show league.
A win for the NRL both in enhancing their return on their product and on improving its market reach. In addition Monday night football would be a more valuable addition to FTA than any of the current weekend fixtures. It is already a high rating event on pay TV and it would have no competition from other sports on a Monday night on FTA.
It would also be more marketable to FTA because market reach would be higher on a week night when more viewers are tuned into television rather than weekends where viewer time is split with other activities. This is a no brainer!
2. If the NRL does expand by two teams in the near future, than the key timeslot that needs to be looked at is the Sunday 6:00pm kick off. Sunday night offers the advantage of a high market penetration TV timeslot. It is also a family friendly time and would allow parents to take their kids to games and still be home by a reasonable hour.
3. Dedicated State of Origin (SoO) program. This should be sold as a stand-alone product along with the introduction of a Pacific Islands versus NZ Origin contest. SoO should move to a Monday timeslot with the Pacific Island Origin to be played on the Saturday night before origin.
No other games to be played during Origin weekends (i.e. NRL byes) unless there is an equivalent under 20’s program introduced at the same time (as TV filler). What this would do is minimise the impact of market cannibalisation from the NRL and increase the focus on Origin (i.e. enhance its value to any FTA organisation).
The Monday timeslot gives Origin its own timeslot (like Wednesday nights) with no competition from other sports. It also allows supporters to plan long weekends where they can then attend both Origin games. A massive boost for tourism if scheduling packages are set-up to cater for this. Most importantly it gives the representative players an extra two days recovery to ensure they are available for the following weekend’s games.
To assist with any risk of scheduling issues, any rounds preceding Origin should commence on the Saturday (i.e. no Friday night games). This will ensure all players involved in Origin get a minimum five days recovery and the quality of the NRL is protected.
4. Introduce a three Test mid-season series between Aus vs. NZ multi cast on both pay TV and FTA on a Sunday night (exc. ANZAC day Test). The first Test should be played on ANZAC day as a stand-alone game with the remaining two Tests in this series to be played in July (after Origin) over two consecutive weekends (with no NRL played over these weekends – mid-season break).
In addition there should also be a Samoa vs. Tonga two Test series staged and a PNG vs. Fiji two Test series staged over the same consecutive weekends covering Friday and Saturday nights (both multi-cast on pay TV and FTA). What this will bring is a unique international program that over time will significantly grow the profile of rugby league, the NRL and most importantly the international game.
I also feel that this will be rugby league’s major weapon in the fight against the AFL as this will better enable the NRL to market the game to the many Pacific Island demographics which currently reside in Australia. It will also assist us in increasing our market penetration into the Pacific region and will greatly improve the profile of rugby league in the region.
People will probably criticise this by saying that the NRL season will go too long. My suggestion to fix this is to reduce the season by two rounds to twenty four and drop all byes and split rounds during the season. There will be enough breaks during the season under this schedule to cater for fatigue.
Any representative players can be rested by their clubs for a game here and there if they participate in all representative games. This in my opinion would be hugely successful in ensuring a significant TV deal.
And finally we come to State of Origin. The impact that Origin is having on international rugby league in our region is profound. The profile of this contest is now such that it is growing to the detriment of the international game in the Pacific. But it is part of the Australian game and must be preserved.
So where do you start with international rugby league? It seems every time we make significant strides in this area we seem to undermine the whole concept and give the game another uppercut. I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach with the prospect of a talent such as Uate being non eligible to represent Fiji given his inclusion for NSW in origin. It is time that the ARL stopped killing international rugby league for the benefit of the Kangaroos.
It is this self-interest that has resulted in the Kangaroos being unbeatable for many years and the international game gaining no traction whatsoever in new developing regions. What needs to happen for the good of the game is a relaxing of the Origin eligibility rules in Australia to ensure that Pacific rugby league players can play Origin and be eligible to represent their nation of birth. These are the rules that need to be introduced once the Pacific island origin program is introduced.
– To be eligible for Origin (both Australia and Pacific Island), a player must have played his first senior game (i.e. under 18 years) in or for that region/state and or be born in this respective region/state.
If a player satisfies the first step in this criteria, but was not born in this area, than they are only eligible to play origin provided that they are not from any of the advanced rugby league nations (i.e. Australia, NZ, England). Any person born in any these regions must play for their country of birth.
The advantage of this rule is that it restricts the large nations from stripping talent out of the Pacific regions for their own benefit, whist also protecting the integrity of Origin.
Origin must work for the betterment of the international game, not against it!
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