John Grant will quit his post as chairman at the end of his tenure, leaving himself eight months to complete his goal of upsetting every single person in rugby league.
He informed the game’s stakeholders of his decision at 10am yesterday after somehow finding enough money in the NRL’s budget to send an email.
Grant’s call to resign was made Monday evening following a typically gruelling day of avoiding bargaining talks with the Players Association.
The news was met with deep sadness by all involved in the game, with many regretful that he’ll still be around until February.
Appointed as commissioner in 2012, Grant ably fulfilled the role’s charter by kowtowing to the clubs with the greatest of self-preservation.
Across his seemingly endless five-year term, he became known as a man who remained eternally professional in a role he was always on the cusp of losing.
Grant was responsible for the appointment of the wildly popular David Smith, a move that broke ties with years of tradition in rugby league administration by hiring someone with business nous.
The pair worked in concert to secure a TV deal that would be ultimately remembered for delivering the game unrivalled access and a grumpy Rupert Murdoch.
Grant was also chiefly responsible for using the deal to deliver funding boosts to essential areas such as grassroots, digital strategy, and pretty much anything else provided it wasn’t the players.
He then saved the remaining $192 million surplus with such security that it remains undetectable to this day and will most probably never be located.
But despite Grant leaving nothing from the deal but some Cabcharge receipts and a couple of cool Tweets, his term was not without controversy.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
His delaying of next year’s funding figures left the clubs seething, as it disrupted their planning for recklessly spending money that isn’t theirs on stuff they shouldn’t spend it on.
Clubs have since rallied to destabilise Grant, labelling his repeated postponing of handouts as woeful financial governance.
They remain unhappy at being unable to plot blowing the NRL’s money on a talent arms race at the disregard of other critical arms of their businesses, like hiring front room staff, or in Newcastle’s case, any room staff.
Clubs accused Grant of being disrespectful, believing he held a blatant disregard for their impeccable record of financial management which stands at 2/16ths solvent.
In the end though, the joke was on the clubs, with Grant deciding to head off in to the sunset to leave the reckless financial management to them.
Despite his early announcement, the retiring chairman plans on taking a business as usual approach to the final months of his tenure.
His time in handover mode will be spent completing the job of stacking the crowded underside of his bus with some of the game’s leading figures.
Grant also plans on playing a prominent role in the recruitment process for his replacement, promising to find an appropriate candidate with an exhaustive, office-wide search.
His final appearance in an official capacity will be at the World Cup, which he will mark by mistakenly pronouncing a team like an AFL-following politician.
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