Why the Rugby League commission needs to change

I'm not clear what role ARLC plays in developing the grassroots in my country--N.Z.? WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS THERE COULD BE 3/4 NRL FRANCJISES IN N.Z. --AS WITH QUEENSLAND. WHERE DOES THE WIDER OCEANIA AREA GET REPRESENTATION?

I wasn't necessarily comparing the 2 Leagues in playing quality terms. My comments are basically directed at the Country Areas within the separate competitions. The QRL has a 14 team competition with a good mix of Regional Clubs such as the Northan Pride, Townsville Blackhawks, Mackay Cutters, Cent Qld Capras and the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Brisbane teams, Norths, Souths-Logan, Easts, Wynnum Manly, Redcliffe, Ipswich and Burleigh on the Gold Coast. They also have an NSW Club the Tweed Heads Seagulls and of course the Hunters from Papua NewGuinea. What does NSW have? A 12 team competition with 8 Clubs in Sydney, Illawarra, Newcastle, Wyong and Auckland. Canberra, Manly, Easts, Souths and Cronulla are playing out of their traditional areas. NSW are in dire need of more CRL Regions. Let us hope that the ARLC, NSWRL and the CRL get their acts together and include these new areas for the beginning of the Platinum League in 2018. Areas that I believe are necessary for NSW are Tamworth, Mudgee, Port Macquarie, Grafton and probably Griffith or Wagga Wagga. In Queensland probably Toowoomba. Perth, Wellington, Fiji and a team from darwin has also been mentioned. The ARLC has a lot of work to do.

Well, Scott, it was always my understanding that there would be a full review within 3 years of the formation of the commission. So you are correct that this John Grant's action in regards to John Coates has only proved that Grant like ALL of his predecessors is basically reactive and NOT proactive... Unfortunately for the League. Coates report is due in February 2017. If the clubs are to have 2 representatives on the commission then these NON-Development clubs such as the Roosters, Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles along with the disruptive Storm and Sharks should NOT be allowed on it. The Roosters, Bulldogs, Dragons, Sea Eagles and Tigers basically run the NSWRL and have done so for years, even before the 1995 Super League. The NSWRL is basically a dictatorship as no one from the board can be kicked off it. So we don't want or need any representatives from those clubs.

Well, Millsy, you are trying to compare how the AFL divide up their money for grassroots compared to the NRL and/or its Clubs. I will take issue with a couple of points. First of all, you want to expand to new territories but in the same breath, you criticise the "whole of the game" strategy as phoney? It is real and it will be put in place for 2018 and beyond. This "whole of the game" strategy IS the model in which to expand the game to new territories. You simply can't just plonk down a new club in any area without first putting in infrastructure to make that area viable and/or running a viable State League/Reserve Grade club in which to support a possible future NRL franchise. Sure such infrastructure is in place in Perth, Brisbane and Wellington but many Country areas such as the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Central Qld, Port Macquarie, Wagga Wagga, Mudge and Coffs Harbour still need work done. These are the areas the ARLC will concentrate on as future feeder clubs for the established NRL clubs. SECONDLY: The AFL is in a completely different situation to that of the NRL because the AFL has a draft system put in place so their funding is always centralised. The individual AFL clubs have no need to invest in their local grassroots as the AFL draft system delivers them all of the young players that are needed. Whereas in NSW many NRL Clubs who are considered to be "Developing Clubs" such as Canberra, Penrith, Parramatta, Souths and to a lesser extent due to poor management and/or a lack of profits and funds Newcastle, Wollongong and the Tigers to a lesser extent. WHY should these clubs spend millions every year on grassroots just so that the rich clubs, Easts, Manly, Canterbury to come in and pinch them? THIRDLY: I am not 100% sure how the QRL divide up their funds for grassroots in Queensland but they effectively have a stronger State League competition as there are ONLY 4 NRL Clubs, I count the Storm as a Qld club. NSW is 20 years behind Queensland With the introduction of the Brisbane Broncos in 1988, this basically led to the Old Brisbane Club Competition to radically reorganise as all of the New Sponsorship and fans through the gate were supporting the Broncos. This caused many Brisbane clubs to fold Valleys, Brothers and Wests folded and Souths-Logan merged. The Federal Government ban of all Cigarettes Sponsorship forced the QRL to introduce the new Queensland Cup in 1996 by introducing clubs from Country Areas, Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast. Some areas are gone now and many others introduced. So Millsy this "Whole of the Game Strategy" is designed primarily to bring the NSW Cup up to the standards of the Qld Cup Eventually, BOTH States will have a 16 team State League Competition. The BOTTOM Line is this: In order for the NRL to copy or to a certain extent replicate the AFL System in regards to the grassroots and funding then the NRL would have to introduce more clubs in Queensland and to also introduce a DRAFT SYSTEM.

There are two topics of discussion in this article so I will NOW concentrate on the one that doesn't seem to have many comments on! #Should we have all of these Ls in the administration of the game? NO, we shouldn't! Unfortunately, the constitution of ARLC was rushed and I doubt whether all of the Legal ramifications were clearly thought through at the time before its eventual formation. News Ltd and the ARL representative Nick Politis was more concerned with commissioners being truly independent than he was with exactly what would be the roles of the NSWRL and the QRL. As Scott wrote in the article the ARL Commission was originally designed to get rid of the Ls and to streamline the administration for the betterment of the game as a whole. It quite clearly didn't do that! We all know that John Grant has commissioned John Coates who by the way is a Constitution Lawyer and who is chairman of the IOC Legal Affairs Commission and is president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His job will be to examine and review the ARLC constitution but I fear this will prove fruitless. THERE is one section of the constitution that everybody has seemed to overlook, especially these so-called media expert Journos. I DID NOT! The Constitution STATES quite clearly that in order for the constitution to be changed and/or altered it will require the support of BOTH of the NSWRL and the QRL. Any ONE BODY has the power of VETO. Both State leagues can't even agree to what is the colour of an orange let alone decide on what is good for the game as a whole. So how the hell are they going to agree to anything else?

Hmmm the clubs get control funding they can't run a profit with all the money they get now and will get more later. Good luck with that, dare I say the AFL do it well why not follow their lead and grow the game as they do their target to be number one in the country and tread all over league if they get the chance. long term I see that happening unless the NRL start expanding to new areas instead of contracting under the phoney whole of game approach. it would be an investment (grass roots) and future proofing the competition. Remember club bosses are there to run their clubs and only invest in areas outside if there is an immediate to short term gain to their organisation. IMO of course

Kids these days are taught to go high, to wrap up the ball and to stop the offload. When I was refereeing when players went too high in tackles I always told them to aim lower. I always said to them if you aim for the shoulder you will most likely hit the head. I said if you aim for the sternum then you will hit their shoulders!

I do my research mate. When I was refereeing back in the 90s I used to travel to several country areas and fill in there when needed. The people are fantastic, they used to put me up for free accommodation and pay for my meals and drinks Not only were they short of players they were also short of on-field officials.

I forgot to mention for our Queensland readers that the old Botany Council is in South Sydney. Rockdale Council is in the old St George area. Both are now merged!

Scott, that's coal face - not cold face.

Just a couple of things Scott - No single rule like "eliminate contact above the shoulder" is going to change the view of the parents that won't let their kids play RL and for that matter RU. The simple fact that the game is based on continual collisions is the thing that turns them off. The AFL purposely took the physicality out of their game over 100 years ago - it was originally a game for cricketers to play in the off season. The irony of this is that injury rates at the top level of the NRL and AFL are very close in both numbers and severity. However the AFL always seems to win the propaganda war. As for Tunksie and country RL - I was involved for decades as a player, coach and administrator of the game in the bush. In the 70's I heard the same calls that the game was dying - same for the 80's, 90's and beyond. Whilst there has been a decline in tackle RL numbers I don't believe there has been a discernable drop off in interest or support of the actual game. And this is backed up by the big regional TV ratings that are generated. In short: I'm a glass half full kinda guy and I think the fact the commission is talking big money for the grassroots and are promoting touch and other non contact variations of the game can only be a good thing.

Well explained. Thanks.

Yes, Melbourne has 13,989 members as of the 21st of December. They are doing well. Membership tracker http://leagueunlimited.com/news/29340-2017-nrl-club-membership-tracker/