If you were NRL CEO, what would be on your to-do list?

Actually it doesn't kill the Bears al all oikee, Norths are cashed up and can buy the rights, returning the ground to the Bears. Makes a simple community model going forward as they have mega corporations signed in principle as sponsors upon license grant...money is no problem. They may still expand if a bid can demonstrate they add value but not costs - the Bears are about the only franchise that can do that. I agree with everyones sentiments however - if they don't intend ever giving the CC a license, have the decency to tell the Bears.....15 years of lies, deception etc is enough. The payout for lost earnings at Bluetongue after being guaranteed survival if they relocated might swallow most of that $1b tv deal however....will be cheaper to just add the CC Bears!

I know B.A.,my point was simply to emphasise the fact,the ARLC will have to pay a lot more than $750,000. It has been acknowledged in rl circles for some time,since Gallop's removal,the figue will be much higher.So there is no need to push that as CEO.Cause it will happen. The strategic plan is currently being worked on,Grant has indicted such.One suggest as CEO it will be a case of implementng it. How do you know the ARLC aren't close to identifying the long term startegy,when Garnt is talking about having it ready before year's end. With the monies forthcoming from the Tv deal,and tNarrow sited,it would be $300m less.BTW there is more money to follow,the new CEO will be far better placed to instiute initiatives,than if it were a deal $300m less. I am only repeating what the ARLC and committees are doing and waht has been advised,it's not as if they are sitting back contemplating their navels.

cool story, bro but grow where? hobart? Sydney is already maxed out. Brisbane flirted with AFL....but in the past 30 years dont you think you would have scraped together as many fans as you could to get the max number.....so where you growing to. I personally have come up with some good ideas over the years, and many have been implemented. I have been influenced by other sports and my own imagination, and evidence gathering. However, I am not alone in my suggestions, others suggest as well. Its a community game with community input. We ALL own the ideas. All I see from the AFL is contraction. We're talking facts, you're talking conspiracy.

Yeah Super Rugby have a similar system. I just think with a rep break there are also added benefits that it will stop teams from complaining about losing their rep stars and will stop the farce of watching understrength teams compete over a couple of months and it will also give teams the equal byes throughout the year. Not to mention the fact that absence makes the heart grow fonder, after three weeks people will be raring to get back into club footy.

Crosscoder The author didn't reference Gill MacLahclan, even though his name is in the media and he is the only one who can command the $1m plus salary - IMO The Strategic plan doesn't exist yet - the question was what would you do, - I said revist it. the CEO is the one charged with implementing it, it should be his first job and he (or she) should be on board with it. IMO the ARLC aren't close to idenitfying what their strategy is long term, because, IMO, the TV rights deal has been very narrow sited - but thanks for kind words....

nrl targeting afl 2IC borrowing heavily from nrl posters over the years i have to say..... this is an outrage... a clear declaration of war... an affront to the fine game of afl... this is war i tell you - WAR... how dare the nrl... absolute arrogance... ARROGANCE I TELLS YA' and in the real world... the afl ticks along... no-one is concerned... the game will survive... and continue to grow... and grow... and grow and if the subtext wasnt overly clear to all you paranoid tin-foil hat wearing nrl conspiracy theory types... get a grip...

I agree that low crowds are a very very bad look. It speaks volumes. I mean once people realise that noone else goes they wont go. Spectators breed spectators! Sellouts leave fans wanting for more! We have too much supply, too many games.

Let me just remind you Ian,that sponsorship has beena festering sore at times,because companies that wanted to be involved had little faith in the club being a going concern, long term. That has been stated on a number of occasions.The certainty with this development ,will change many things. Pretty much the upside FFS. The club will secure $1m pa rental from the retail properties.The developers receive the profits on the first 316 units and the Sharks receive their share of profits from unit no 317 to 600 units.The new retail development which abuts the League's club,will bring in further custom.The licenced leagu'se club is going to be fully redeveloped,a complete change from the current old shell. Part of the development includes extending stadiums on the East and Western side to join up with the Southern stand. Membership/attendance was hampered by no fixed scheduling and a swag of Monday night games and wet weather with little cover. The grants from the ARLC will be much more than the current $3.8m from he NRL. The club will be working on SFA in grants from the licenced club.If you had bothered to keep up to speed,the football club has secured the services of Michael Gordon and Luke Lewis ,hardly cheap buys from Penrith. NB the club had a debt of $13.5m(imagine the interest bill),that will within 90 days of teh annoucment be reduce to $3.5m O/D ,a debt serviceable even on current income. The PAC decision hasalso meant that the ground with a bank valuation of $8.5m ,jumps to a UCV of around $22m.Canterbury does not own its ground and has to pay rent,the Sharks do and they don't have to pay rent. Your knowledge of the Sharks is limited apparently to what you have read(ancient history now) ,and not what is at the coal face.It happens too often on these boards. Canterbury has a bigger fan base at present,but if you believe the sharks are stuck in some fan timewarp,you are sadly mistaken.Canterbury relies on a huge grant from their League's club,the Sharks do not. I agree with NF,the knockers will always knock.the announcement has only just dried on paper,and the cynics look for negatives,which are now not applicable.

hey its great to see. ultimately if they can make league better value that would be the best outcome. I.e better emotions/games, better facilities, cheaper, easier to attend, access content. same, warchest sounds like we are building an army. we are building a sport. broncos games are all free public transport. possible I guess because they are one of only 3 big teams here...all teams get free transport now, lions, reds, broncos and qld roar. of course sydney would be different.....but I think its PUBLIC advert for public transport. they should encourage the use of public transport and make all nrl/afl sport in sydney free, or put in a flat 2 dollar fee built into the ticket. This is all great news, and I think with the announcement of more money being negotiated, and possible streaming rights public opinion is changing. Also, when people understand all the changes filtering through, they realize - hey, I am only going to be in a better position soon to be involved more in rugby league. __ I would like to see in the next decade, a minimum : -teams with 25,000 ticketed members or more -playing out of stadia that is 80% all seater or better, with capacity above 30,000 seats. -league average home attendance of 25,000 or more; certain clubs expecting 30-40,000 average attendance. - 50,000 crowds common. - club revenues to at least double or triple, hopefully more. - all clubs making a profit at seasons end. If these 10 years to come can be used to get more people at the ground, then that would be great. Meanwhile, at home, we will have unprecedented access to the sport.

Yes, is why i would not want to be CEO. This 3 week period, dont the rugby boys have this rep season. I might be worth a look. I am not saying it is the way to go, Hate putting my foot in my mouth before being shown the reasons why it is a bad idea. I have come up with plenty of ideas to be shot down, down in flames i tell ya. :) Worth a look, if the rugby boys are doing it, must be something in the idea. 3 weeks is perfect.

All this off the top of your head. What you carrying their, a burden. :) Elephant man. :) No all good Von Newman, and i think alot of these ideas are starting to flow through to the game now. I seen Juniors being better served at the Titans, as in kids getting in up till the age of 15 now for free with family memberships, And i noticed free public transport for the Eels Dragons game this weekend. All good, things are changing slowly. The big Bronco games have free trnsport also i think, well origin does i know for sure. Baby steps, and the code has to keep worrying about our own game. Not what other codes are doing. No poaching, no raiding or pillaging. I only say that to stir them up. :) Yes i read that 100 million warchest, it should be called future fund. I dont like warchest. It sounds nasty.

Thanks Okiee. There are so many parts to this game and so many types of fans and people. Its all about compromise. (this is why I made my cupcake post far above; I knew it would be a funny exercise, because atm WE are not faced with the realities........so we take in IDEALS TO THE JOB. And those ideals probably get smashed within the first few weeks, unless you're careful or experienced, or both....or some other reason, I don't pretend to know exactly and specifically what an NRL CEO would be like. ) 1. In regards to the negotiations with cygnell - it was compromise. I think everyone would have stopped negotiation when there was nothing left to "deal" away. You can't walk in there are say "OK, Cyngell, you give us 500 million, and we give you virtually nothing in return." Cygnell: "Ok! For the glory of the game!!!" Group hug and hand shakes. 2 Games like Origin and All stars need to remain promotion tools. ___ Look at how much money they will have. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-to-build-a-100-million-war-chest-on-back-of-1-billion-broadcast-rights-deal/story-e6frexnr-1226460267936 ___ I think think this will be the 5 year period where we make accessing the game live and in other ways a priority. This is the time we start focusing on the game day experience, from making it accessible, to making it as cheap as possible, to getting facilities in order. It is of course foremost the period we try and make clubs financially sustainable, and if possible increase their operations, make them bigger and stronger, with more prestige. This is the third logical step in the line. 1. Get admin sorted. 2. Get money/clubs financially stable. 3 Game day experience for fans Keep origin in melbourne (400,000+ viewers is a lot of interest) we need to strike a balance between what people want and whats best. And selling out origin down there is not too shabby. People always whine. Its quite funny. Get streaming service up and running. (http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/addons-set-to-take-nrl-rights-price-up-to-125b-20120828-24yv7.html)...and note there is more money to come. I would get the streaming service up to an acceptable standard, and hopefully could come up with a model that provides us with the most money, be that if we run it or telstra, fetch tv, ect run it. -to that effect I would bring about a "game pass" online ___ - Provided its feasible, and that contra is balanced right, I would make sure there is up to 1 million dollars available to advertise each round. But I would work out based on figures, whats best. Look here, (http://www.4webmarketing.biz/images/theaustralianadrates.pdf)....advertising rates in the australian [at some stage in the past] were around 5,500 for a colour strip and 30,000 for a full page. So if each club was given 1 million dollars at some stage for advertising, be it over a couple of years, or for one year....they would on average be able to spend 80,000 per round. I am not sure what each club does now, and whether paper/tv adverts are worthwhile to them, I'd have to ask them. __ Also, I would encourage initiatives and get the clubs talking to each other. - During my time I would make RL so easy and accessible, it would be funny. - Junior participation cheap....I would try and get the cost of playing down to around 100-250 (or whatever low figure represents value, I have 2 daughters, so have never checked it up. Heard 500 recently it costs. I would try and halve that.) - Going to NRL games - cheaper. We need to work out if we would subsidise tickets 'all-over' or if we would subsidise a grand-stand seating, or "sitting on the hill" (different edges of the scale). - I would ask questions of that process. Such as, "How would people react if I told them, they could sit on any hill in sydney for 2 dollars?" (for every hill spot taken, the nrl will then subsidise any ticket with 8 dollars) Would it make more people go? I think, but would it really? And what effects would it have? Would it make selling seats harder? Would it limit stadium progress in terms of creating more seats? How would it effect supply and demand. - Remember I want to make attendance so easy. I would allow ANY lone parent to bring along up to 5 kids for dirt cheap. 2 dollars a ticket. So technically a mum and dad could bring along MOST OF A JUNIOR FOOTBALL SIDE between themselves. -Junior players to gain entry for free to several matches in their city each year. Its a part of playing Junior footy. May not just be in their area. - Memberships subsidy (if it proves effective, will do some sums). IF we could knock 50-100 bucks off the middle-rung of memberships that would be great...I don't think we will be knocking much off the top tiers. We may only subsidise them for a year or two to get the numbers up, then reduce the subsidy slowly. Depends how much it ends up costing. BUT if most people can become members it will be worth it. - doing some math....and the broncos are a classic case here: looking to increase members to 35,000 ticketed, currently at 25,000...this is a typical case. So, just say the subsidy was $75, for one team, the broncos, it would cost them 2 million to subsidise that. for 16 clubs, thats 32 million. CONSIDERING WE NEED A WAR CHEST/Savings, there may be better ways to spend the money. Or a better way to implement it. Maybe they could subsidise the first 25,000 ticketed members for each club. Meaning at $50 subsidy it could potentially cost 1.25M for each club, X 16 = 20M Its not perfect, it could be rorted perhaps. Plus, where in the chain would a club like to be subsidised? We've raised some problems. So maybe a club would like the subsidy in the form of money to go toward marketing in order to get members.....maybe the marketing is in place and they want to subsidy to boost members....maybe neither the members of marketing is in order, and they want a subsidy to be withheld or go toward something else. But things need to line up. They cant use the money to get a drinks machine, ect. ___ - I would make sure moving around sydney was as easiest as it could be for the sydney fans. - I would then make all members within Sydney/Newcastle/Wollongong, able to travel to any away game and get in for cheap. - Where possible I would provide transport via govt trains, buses. - I would be helping the clubs with this, i.e, its their job, but I would be helping co-ordinate efforts, and coming up with new ways. ** I would want to create a whole new section of the "travelling away sydney fan." I want to make it worthwhile.....and I would welcome away fans. I want to entice them out, but I want them welcomed....so something to take note of their efforts and reward them for coming. Sydney is a big place, so a reward would be a nice gesture. ** - I would be seeking a strategy of stadia, and work with the clubs to implement those. I would begin the process of lobbying state and federal govt, and seeing what can be done about a transport upgrade for parramatta and increased seating/facilities at Parramatta...and the SFS (light rain). Apparently the SFS/SCG trust has plans for the precinct - I would be talking to them about that and working with them. They want light rail and an upgrade to some other things. That helps us, so I would be working with them and Graham Annersely. _____ - Not sure exactly how this one would work. But. I would promote a match of the round in Sydney, and move it to a larger stadium if feasible (and its not already at a decent stadium...i.e parra, sfs, homebush). This match would need to shape up as an interesting encounter. There may not be a match of the round each week....but when there is, it will receive increased promotion, it will be given a label and increased focus. There will be even cheaper tickets, juniors get in for free (on top of their original 3 games), it will be given spots on tv for promotion, and instead of the clubs running the promotion, the NRL will run the promotion. Transport will be free, and everyone will know this is a match of the round.... there will be an extra little celebration or event at the game, set up by the NRL, there will be an entertainment package. There will be an NRL co-ordinated effort to interview a player/coach on the ground at the end of the game and put it over the loud speaker. There will be a fairly large prize to be won...something eternally useful, like a new fridge, dryer, washing machine, a car, an investment account, ect. Maybe they could tie in with radio and tv better. The match of the round may not be on FTA, it would purely be to gain the largest crowd at the game so that they may experience a "game day experience". The thinking is, in Brisbane there is only the broncos, and they get attention all the time, so they are gauranteed to be noticed, and hopefully draw the max crowd, factors permitting. In sydney there is often a struggle to be noticed. Hopefully this will remove that. ____ There is probably a whole lot more, but this is only the start, off the top of my head. Basically all I am doing is making it easier for everyone to work together, attract crowds, and enjoy a day at the footy. There's a whole lot more, but as you can see there is a LOT of room to move where improvement is concerned. The game is great, and we can make it greater still.

Agree with you oikee, the lure of origin is too great in order to shut out NZ and Polynesian players. Already we only allow 'Australian' players to play and all it has done is lead to certain players relinquishing the right to play for their country of birth. To tie in nicely to the name of this thread, 'If I were CEO' I would have a three week representative gap in the middle of the NRL calendar. What this would do is also allow the creation of a NZ origin and also bring in a more competitive Pac Cup (as clubs can afford to release more players during this period due to no club commitments). While money is a big drawing card for Origin, I believe probably even a bigger drawing card is the fact that representing any country other than Australia doesn't allow the same rep opportunities. It also means that players with dual eligibility can focus on their own rep games mid-year, and therefore players can actually decide which country they want to represent without being blinded by the mid-year Origin hype.

Your Origin dreams wont be realised. Not only Melbourne, but i think other cities will enjoy the third Origin match each year. This along with the Allstar games are growth projections for ruggy league,. As for not wanting outsiders play origin, again, you might be dissapointed there as well. With the players to be earning 50 thousand a game, i think they might have to somehow allow outsiders into the contest, one for the new CEO to work out. If you dont let them in, they (kiwis and poly boys, even poms) will just become aussies to play, then you will be the cause of the fall of international ruggy league,. You want that hanging over your head. ?? No i thought not. :) You have to become a diplomat, a adviser, a mediaitor and a mother to run ruggy league. A complicated but loving family. hehe

Typical Ian Whitchurch putting a damper on things it's a long way to go for Cronulla to be where Canterbury is at but aleast it's a start compared to the financial quagmire they were in years ago. Jeez it seems RL supporters always find the negatives more attractive than the positive all the time.

NF, Its good news, but not as good as you hope. Read their accounts, paying attention to note 2. The property developer is accepting responsibility for the $12m in debt, which is good ... but thats pretty much the upside for the Cronulla Sharks. However, the footy club is only getting $4m from sponsorship, $918k from match revenue, $857k from membership revenue and $3.8m from the NRL. If the salary cap goes up to match the NRL grant, then the club will still need to fund the rest of the football department - coach, training staff, medical staff - from that other income. Clubs with higher crowds, like Canterbury, will be more able to provide support for the players on the field.

1. Clarify all this eligibility rules regarding Origin. I simply do not want to see Kiwis/Polynesians playing origin. I absolutely love watching them week to week on the NRL, but SOO is sacred to QLD and NSW and should be kept this way. If you do not live in either state before the age of 12, you shouldn’t be able to qualify. I don’t want anymore Tamou/Uate/Carroll/Thorn headlines ever again to taint the greatest spectacle in Australian sport. If this means increasing the incentives to play for the Kiwis & Pacific island nations so be it (although this may be outside the jurisdiction of the ARLC) 2. Increase the cap to $6.5 million. Allow clubs to pay luxury contract to players they have developed from u20’s (i.e clubs may be allowed to go over the cap or given an allowance if it means resigning a local junior). Also offer small subsidies for contracts for 10 year-one club players. It’s time we went back to seeing teams build dynasties with one club players, not buy premierships with the ridiculous turnover of players we see today. One club players are the heroes of the game. 3. Purchase TRL (Touch Rugby League aka Kick-It Touch) and directly associate it with NRL. Promote it heavily at schools and at the grassroots level. It is a game girls can play and the more girls we have playing league, the more families we get involved into this great game. Already it is the fastest growing social sport in Queensland and NSW. It is simple for young kids to learn with skills having a direct correlation to the skills utilised in League. 4. Do whatever it takes to establish League in Private Schools. Union is a boring game to watch on TV and with the Wallabies probably at their lowest level in 20 years, now is the perfect time to kick them whilst they’re down and implement a Round-Robin schoolboy comp with a reward to the best schools. League shouldn’t be thought as a poor mans game, and introducing it to private school kids will be the first step in establishing itself in vulnerable market. 5. Stop dilly dallying and being vague with expansion. If they don’t plan on it, just tell the potential bids so they don’t waste money. If they do expand, and they should (Perth 2015, Brisbane/Ipswich 2016) make sure the club/s is completely transparent with their dealings so we don’t have another Titans (Michael Searle?) Extra assistance, in the shape of the AFL’s commitment to GWS, will be required for at least the first 3 years 6. Increased uniformity and accountability with Referees. Harrigan and RAper saying, “Yes, that was a mistake last week,” is not good enough. Replace those two if they can’t get it right. The rules seem to be changing every round. 7. Stop this origin in Melbourne rubbish. Melbourne wanting one game a year is an absolute joke. This is SOO, between QLD and NSW, sorry Victoria, but one game every 3 years will have to do. The passion is in the original states, and it should be played in front of them. 8. Next time the broadcasting rights expire, try and make Gyngell compromise a little. His arrogance in explaining why they reverted back to the terrible 7.30 time slot for the Grand Final was sickening. Yes he may pay a lot of money, but I would rather keep the tradition of Rugby League, which we struggle to acknowledge compared to the AFL, alive. Scheduling the Broncos on Friday nights for the next five years is not fair on anyone. 9. Grassroots, Grassroots. Grassroots. It’s all about delivering the next generation of Superstars. Rugby League has an amazing resilience. Just when a superstar retires or leaves the code, someone else puts their hands up to make everyone forget. As much money, spent strategically as possible, in combatting AFL and nurturing future talent is the best way to ensure Rugby League benefits from this broadcasting deal.

Yes, but why are the rules are mess? The rules haven't changed for no reason over time. Referees are no more or less (in)competent than they were in the past. There's always been referee interpretation, but in the past it erred on the side of caution: if it looked like a knock on it was, if the pass looked so much as flat it was forward, if you pushed as close to offside as you wanted you were pinged. Around the time of the NRL starting there was a huge push to get the interpretation on middle of the road calls to go the attacking team instead of the defensive (some coaches in particular). I think this is where some of the problems have arisen. I can't speak for footy back yonder, but compared to 20 years ago the culture now is to give the attacking team the rub of the green, rather than the "looks like a duck, quacks like a duck" mentality of the past.

Make Okiee happy and ensure Manly stay at Brookie ...

Go sharks And broncos