NRL to have final Commission input

Thursday 11th March 2010

Above: Current ARL Chairman Colin Love

By STEVE MASCORD

Australian Rugby League finally has its independent commission - but the NRL's former owners will get one final significant input into the new structure for the game.

As Friday morning newspapers hail "independence day" following the ARL's vote to hand over power to the much-heralded IC, rugbyleague.com can confirm the members of the commission will be appointed not by the new shareholders but by News Limited and the Australian Rugby League.

The landmark development co-incides with the opening of the new season on Friday night with matches in Sydney and Brisbane.

Queensland opposed handing over the ARL's 50 per cent ownership of the NRL but was defeated 6-4 at a landmark board meeting on Thursday, meaning News Corporation will finally end the half-ownership it has held since the Super League war.  NSW and Queensland will now get two votes from 18 - the others going to the 16 clubs - under the new body. This gives the traditional guardians of the game veto rights over any constitutional change.

QRL chief executive Ross Livermore described the vote as a "dark day for grassroots rugby league" but he will no doubt welcome the final harrah afforded his powerbase - picking four of the eight commissioners. Identities already mentioned include former Qantas chief Geoff Dixon, former Billabong chairman Gary Pemberton and current NRL director Katie Page. 

The historic statement from the ARL read: "The Board of the Australian Rugby League has today agreed in principle with News Ltd. on the model for a single, Independent Commission to conduct and control the sport of Rugby League in Australia.

"The Independent Commission will be a not-for-profit entity that will include the NSW and Queensland Rugby Leagues as well as the sixteen clubs.

"The eight commissioners will also be members of the not-for-profit entity ensuring that the commission is truly independent of both the clubs and the leagues."

ARL and RLIF chairman Colin Love was quoted as saying: "The ARL believes that the in-principle agreement arrived at today will deliver a truly Independent Commission to run Rugby League.

"There is still a huge amount of detail to be worked through but today's agreement is a major step in the process.

"Both partners have committed to regular meetings to work through each of the points that will need to be discussed and the complex legal agreements that are involved.
"People need to understand the there is still a lot of work ahead."

An early plan for the 16 clubs to hold equity in the sport has long-since been scrapped. David Gallop is to be the first commissioner, Love the first chairman.

The Australian newspaper reported that the official handover to the commission would take place by November 1.

The architect of the IC, Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle, branded Thursday "a new dawn for the game".

"It's very humbling to be involved in something like this," he said."We're now fighting in the same weight division as the AFL."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that businessman Frank Lowy's stewardship of Australian soccer and the independent commission running Australian Football had convinced the NSW delegates of the need for change.