Todd Greenberg will shine in his new job, so much so that he will be running the NRL outright one day.
I’m not saying that is because Dave Smith will do a bad job as chief executive – although we’ve still got to see what he can do – I just see it as the inevitable natural progression.
People who work at these high levels of administration tend to move on to the next challenge eventually, and when the chief executive’s job becomes vacant, Greenberg will be the obvious choice to fill it.
Greenberg has turned Canterbury around, we all know that.
He came into power in the wake of the salary cap and Coffs Harbour alleged sexual assault scandals and – with the backing of a solid board of directors – built a new image for the club.
Greenberg was only a few months into the role when he had to deal with Sonny Bill Williams walking out on the Bulldogs midway through the 2008 season. Canterbury finished that season in last place.
So they had lost their best player, they were in possession of the wooden spoon and sponsors didn’t want to know them.
But look at the shape the club is in now. OK, on the field they have gone through a struggle to start this season, but that is hardly Greenberg’s fault.
Last season they made the grand final after Greenberg initiated a coup that resulted in Des Hasler joining the club as coach. And they have plenty of sponsorship.
Granted, they could have – and should have – handled the post-grand final drama from Mad Monday better, but Greenberg will have learnt from that.
He made it clear he was the person in charge of the club when the Ben Barba drama erupted before this season kicked off.
When the media demanded to know the full story on Barba, his response was that the intimate details weren’t their business, it was a private matter for Barba and should stay that way.
You might think that should have been a given, but it’s not easy when the media is putting the heat on you.
Greenberg is a strong leader, who trusts his instincts. If he thinks it’s the right thing to do, he will do it, regardless of whether it will make him unpopular in some circles or bring him bad press.
Bad press is only temporary if you’re the genuine article.
At Tuesday’s media conference to announce Greenberg’s appointment as the head of football at the NRL, the subject of the poor crowd at the City-Country match in Coffs Harbour last Sunday was inevitably raised.
Greenberg immediately turned the debate around by declaring his amazement that the City-Country crowd had generated more bad media than the recent huge crowd for the Good Friday match between Canterbury and South Sydney had generated good media.
That was simple, but it was smart.
Not every football administrator will challenge the media’s reasoning for fear of copping a backlash, but they should do it more often if they know their argument is solid.
I can’t believe it has taken the people running the game so long to give the chief executive the support he needs.
David Gallop, when he was the NRL chief executive, had Graham Annesley as his chief operating officer, and Annesley was a cool, calm operator who had a huge influence on the decision-making process.
But he left more than two years ago to enter politics, where he is now performing strongly as the NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation.
First Gallop and then Smith were without a genuine right-hand man until now. There was even that extended period between the two with an interim chief executive in Shane Mattiske.
The AFL would never have allowed a situation like that to continue for so long.
Smith has his right-hand man now, in Greenberg. He’s got his left-hand man now as well, in Jim Doyle, who will be a key man when it comes to assisting Smith in the task of generating revenue.
Smith is still the boss, and he will be visible when the bigger issues are being publicly addressed, but the day-to-day face of the game’s administration from now on will be Greenberg.
And I reckon he’ll do a great job.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Round 8’s NRL was a weekend of domination, with an average win margin of 21 points and some teams seeing their finals hopes really…
"Apologise for my appearance as well, boys - I usually look better than this!"
The season is heading into its middle third and there is a clear separation between seven teams who all look playoff bound and the…
Nicho Hynes has not quite made an undeniable case to be Nathan Cleary’s halves partner for NSW but he should be the first five-eighth…
The Sharks halfback backed it up with a try from a few seconds later, through some more tired Canberra defenders.
There is only one Kalyn Ponga but Newcastle have shown they won’t be shot ducks while their Dally M Medal winner is out with…
