It's time to blow up the ARL Commission and start again – and make John Quayle chairman

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 6 years ago

It's time to blow up the ARL Commission and start again – and make John Quayle chairman

By Andrew Webster

When Ken Arthurson was chairman of the Australian Rugby League, he was regularly accused of putting his own interests ahead of the greater good of the game.

In other words, he did what was best for his beloved Manly, the club for which he played, coached and then ruthlessly oversaw before moving on to Phillip Street to rule the ARL and NSWRL.

A few years ago, I asked the great Arko how he felt about the perceived conflict of interest.

"Well," he said in his signature croaky voice, "we all have to come from somewhere."

John Quayle won't be calling any team the "Cronulla-Sutherland Hawks".

John Quayle won't be calling any team the "Cronulla-Sutherland Hawks".Credit: Marina Neil

If ever there was a time for rugby league to put aside its paranoia, its distrust, its allegiances and agendas, it is right now.

We need to blow up the independent commission and start again. It's time to install the people who know and love the game, and it doesn't matter if they were aligned to News Corp or the ARL during the Super League War, which state they come from, who they played for or share double soy lattes with twice a week.

With the greatest of respect to most of those presently on the commission, dramatic change is needed. The people running the game have lost the faith of the clubs, the states, the players and, most importantly, the fans. Chairman John Grant finally read the tea leaves and declared last week he will quit in February next year, giving him enough time to do the things he needs to do – like stand on the stage after the World Cup final and present the silverware. He's also launching legal action against reporters who have taken him on.

Who replaces him? There are still two vacant seats now that cannot be filled. Who would want to do it?

Advertisement

Under the convoluted constitution, commissioners must be out of the game for three years before they can come on board. Independence and all that jazz. I'm less concerned about independence as competence. So who comes on? People who know business, media, the government and ... oh, rugby league.

John Quayle knows rugby league, from its politics to who to cuddle to who needs to be kicked in the head. Above all, he's the statesman we desperately need. He won't be calling any team the "Cronulla-Sutherland Hawks", as Grant once did.

People will say he's too close to Roosters chairman Nick Politis. Those people don't know Quayle well enough and they don't know that he has always been his own man. On this new commission, we also want Katie Page, one of the most powerful businesswomen in the country who is Queensland-born, hard-nosed but with a big heart. She understands sport and how to sell it.

David Gyngell, former boss of Channel Nine, doesn't want to be chief executive but he's ripe for the commission. So, too, former News Corp chief executive John Hartigan, who once put Wayne Bennett back in his box at the Broncos, wears Jarryd Hayne's San Francisco 49ers jersey to the pub and understands Sydney better than anyone. Imagine Gyngell and Hartigan doing the next TV deal?

I can hear the Queenslanders crying into their pots of XXXX Gold as I type. Darren Lockyer might be a little low-key in his Nine commentary but he's no dope. He's also recently retired. Have a seat, Lockie.

And then there's Paul White, the Broncos chief executive who is highly regarded and highly respected. He's been considered by many for a higher office for some time. When Quayle's done, he's our chairman. Finally, let's bring in Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys, who knows how to get exactly what he wants from federal and state governments and will certainly stop the wild spending crippling the code.

Last year, I jokingly wrote that he'd be cutting up corporate cards and replacing them with Opal cards if he ever got near the books. Apparently, he thought it was a good idea. So there we go. Grant and the club and states met in Sydney on Thursday to squabble about the future look of the commission, but I've solved rugby league's corporate governance issues in a few hundred words.

What's next? Right. The judiciary ...

More moolah for Maloney?

There's a bit more to the James Maloney situation than meets the eye.

We revealed on Thursday that the Sharks are already circling – see what we did there? – Andrew Fifita about extending his current contract, which ends in 2018.

It's in stark contrast to the tack they seem to be taking with Maloney, who is off contract at the same time and has been agitating very loud and publicly about wanting more money from the final year of his deal – and the game in general.

On the surface, it reminds me of the Sonny Bill Williams situation. In 2007, Williams did a deal with the Bulldogs. A year later, he felt it wasn't enough and stormed out of the club and country.

Buy the ticket, take the ride. Or, in this case, sign the contract, take the money you bloody well agreed to.

Many fans have painted Maloney, 30, as greedy. As this column understands it, however, there's a reason he wants to wring out every last cent from the final years of his playing career.

When he was at the Roosters in 2015, and clubs were sniffing around, he wasn't told until late in the season that the salary cap was biting. He had to take whatever the Sharks could afford.

A couple of months ago, he was effectively signed at the Bulldogs for next season but then they ended up signing Kieran Foran and he was again left in the lurch.

The Sharks and Maloney will publicly say, "Move on, nothing to see here, he's contracted for next season".

In reality, Souths, Newcastle, Melbourne and the Warriors are all hunting him down.

Roosters were warned

At the start of this season, Roosters coach Trent Robinson sat down his players and laid down the law.

That's why, in the last week or so, the Roosters have waved goodbye to favourite son Shaun Kenny-Dowall and noted loose cannon Paul Carter.

There are certainly a few broken hearts around the club over SKD, who was charged with drug possession last month when he was caught with half a gram of cocaine at The Ivy.

Having been at the club for 13 years, Kenny-Dowall will be invited to the end-of-season presentation and others are confident that after his day in court on June 21 the Knights will still sign him before the June 30deadline.

Union at its best

We've been seeing the worst of rugby from its administrators in the last few months as the uncertainty continues about the future of the Rebels and Force.

Last Saturday, from the players, we saw the absolute best of the game in the face of utter tragedy when Warringah Rats player Lachlan Ward, 25, died while playing fifth grade at Pittwater Rugby Park.

The solidarity among players, officials and clubs has been typical of the code.

A moment's silence will be observed before the Test between Australia and Scotland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with players and officials from the Warringah club invited to stand on the field if they want.

Our sincere condolences and thoughts for the Ward family, his mates and the Warringah club.

Ned Hanigan will play his second Wallabies Test on Saturday.

Ned Hanigan will play his second Wallabies Test on Saturday.Credit: Stuart Walmsley

Q&A: Ned Hanigan

We speak to the Wallabies flanker ahead of the Test against Scotland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

What stands out from your debut, against Fiji, last weekend?

Sekope Kepu singing the national anthem standing next to me. He's got a very deep, powerful voice and he's very good to listen to. So I'm going to try to stand next to him again.

Did he hit every note?

Every one. There's a guy who went on Britain's Got Talent called Paul Potts. He reminds me of him. Look him up.

What about the ASADA bloke who followed you into the press conference?

Yeah that was a laugh. I weighed in before the game at 110 kilos and weighed out at 107. That's all fluid. So I didn't need to go to the toilet after the game. I did all the recovery and everything after the match, he just followed me about. He had to come and do all the media. About an hour after the game I said, "Mate, I'm right to go". Once you put all that fluid back into your body, your body uses it.

How was old mate from ASADA? Nice guy?

Jeffrey, his name was. Mad Collingwood fan. He saw me pull the old fella out, put it in the tube ...

Who's a tougher taskmaster: Gai Waterhouse or Michael Cheika? [Hanigan worked for Waterhouse when he first moved to Sydney from Coonamble in NSW's central-west.]

Ha! I didn't have much to do with Gai to be honest, and I'm only just starting to get to know Cheik. They're both experts in what they do.

What did you do with Gai?

I mucked out her stables. Led horses around at trackwork early in the morning. I only spoke to her about twice the whole time I was there.

Beer o'clock: Kevin Durant celebrates after the Warriors' victory.

Beer o'clock: Kevin Durant celebrates after the Warriors' victory.Credit: Getty Images

The week

The quote

"I had a couple too many beers. I haven't had a beer since February. So to have a beer right now and come talk to you guys, it feels great." – Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, NBA finals MVP, who then went into the locker room, chugged a beer and spat it out.

Thumbs up

Rafael Nadal, 31, won his 10th French Open title with a straight-sets win over Stan Wawrinka. In January, Roger Federer, 35, won his fifth Australian Open. Please, oh tennis Gods, let them play in the final at Wimbledon, just one last time.

Thumbs down

We're happy to see Queenslander Jarrod Wallace playing in Origin II but when the NRL continually beats its own chest about how it "got rid of the shoulder charge" for "player safety reasons" and then the judiciary clears Wallace to play after what looked like a shoulder charge on Blake Ayshford

Loading

It's a big weekend for … the Giants. No, not the AFL team but the netball team, which meets the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Super Netball grand final in BrisVegas on Saturday.

It's an even bigger weekend for … the Swannies, who come up against the high-flying Richmond Tigers at the MCG on Saturday. Their season starts – or maybe ends – now.

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading