Sweaty palms for Newcastle and the NRL

Knights Fans at the NRL. AAP Image/Action Photographics/Luke Glossop

Nathan Tinkler’s failure to adhere to the June 30 handover deadline at Newcastle might not jeopardise the club’s future, but the members who relinquished control have every right to feel nervous.

After a near-unanimous 97 per cent of members voted to privatise the Knights on March 31, it is the second time Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group has requested an extension after failing to meet an initial May 30 date.

There is no question that Tinkler, who appeared on the BRW Rich 200 List in 2011, with an estimated fortune of $1.01 billion, will not be able to pay.

But the ease with which two deadlines have passed with little to no ramifications for the HSG, must be of concern to the 97 per cent of members who were promised a seamless transition in the lead-up to the vote in March.

The administrative “roadblocks” that have prevented the HSG from assuming financial control of the Knights hasn’t stopped them from being busy on the field, however.

Coaching genius Wayne Bennett has been appointed for 2012, CEO Steve Burraston has been replaced by club legend Matt Gidley, and several key signings are already in place for next season.

Everything but the finances are in place. The Knights can hardly back out now.

The concerns must surely be felt at NRL headquarters, too.

The continuous revolving door of trainers at Tinkler’s Patinack Farm horse-racing operation is clearly indicative of his ‘my way or the highway’ mentality.

If, hypothetically, he continues to move the goalposts at Ausgrid Stadium, what recourse will the NRL have?

Should things turn sour and the matter end up in front of the courts, as witnessed with the continual legal battle over the sale of EPL club Liverpool last year, would the cash-strapped NRL have the financial clout to win a drawn-out legal stoush?

New TV rights deal or not, it is hard to imagine the answer is yes, and even if it was yes, that is to overlook a critical factor in the comparison: the NRL is not in the same ballpark as the EPL and in a regional market like Newcastle, another buyer isn’t going to appear out of thin air. Or the oil-rich Middle East.

Bennett’s focus might be primarily on his Origin-ravaged Dragons, who have managed just one win in their past five, but even he would forgiven for feeling uneasy at the goings-on up at the Knights.

Already Tinkler has reportedly personally intervened in snaring former Newcastle prop Kade Snowden from the fingertips of Cronulla, signed a 30-year old Timana Tahu who will be returning from a season-ending pectoral injury, and is in negotiations to bring 33-year-old former captain Danny Buderus back from the UK.

Seven-time premiership winner Bennett has been an authoritarian coaching figure in the game for nearly 25 years and it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on how Tahu and Buderus would fit in his plans to win a premiership with an unprecedented third club.

Tinkler is regarded is a shrewd, uncompromising man in the business world and Wayne Bennett is surely his equivalent in the rugby league world.

Eventually, one of them is going to have to budge.

With the majority of NRL clubs continuing to struggle in the face of ever-diminishing revenue streams from poker machines, the privatisation scenario is one that the NRL could see repeated at a number of other clubs, particularly in the Sydney region.

They would do well to act like a governing body should, and play an active role in the regulation of takeovers of their clubs, rather than being dazzled by the bright lights of financial promises and pandering to the requests of billionaire businessmen.