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The original reason for the formation of the Rugby League Independent Commission (RLIC) was to resolve the game’s complicated ownership issues and to discharge the fractious configuration between the NRL, ARL, NSWRL, Country Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League and the game’s then owner News Limited.
Former Prime Minister John Howard, a Dragons fan, was suggested as the man to head the commission, but instead Queenslander John Grant was appointed.
We were told that all the Ls would disappear and an independent commission, identical to the AFL’s senior management structure, would control and grow the game.
The consensus from the powerful clubs was that the bureaucratic structure of the Ls promoted a ‘jobs for the boys’ culture and that the over-the-top politicking of the controlling bodies was killing the game.
Fast forward to Christmas in 2017. What’s changed?
Not much. We still have the NRL, ARL, NSWRL, CRL and QRL. The good news is that Rupert Murdoch had signed News Limited’s handling of the game to the RLIC. Given the independent commission have demonstrated that they cannot be independent and minimise the influence of the controlling bodies, it is a fair question being asked: Why do we have an I in the RLIC?
The clubs want a bigger say on how their game is being run, and given they own the entertainment – the players – it is their game. To be blunt, round one in 2017 will start without the RLIC and the NRL, but it will not without the clubs and their players.
It is a fair request for the clubs to have representation on the commission – after all, the biggest gripe is the appalling state of game at the grassroots level, and the clubs are simply more experienced at growing the game than the bureaucratic Ls.
The RLIC and the NRL will cite impressive numbers inflated by touch footy and female competitions, but anyone who lives in or visits the country will know that ‘bush footy’ is on its knees after receiving a dummy pass for funding from the bureaucracy.
The clubs have the NRL stars and the coaches and are much better equipped to develop the competition at a grassroots level. It’s what they do.
The RLIC would serve the game better to hand over the funding they have set aside for the grassroots to the clubs.
Each club should be designated an area and a target for that area, with annual funding assigned based on each club hitting those targets.
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