Bosses of NRL clubs have been summoned to a crisis meeting by the NSW and Queensland rugby league bodies as distrust among the code’s stakeholders reaches a record high.
QRL chief executive Ben Ikin has called the meeting to be held at the Blues Centre of Excellence in Sydney on Tuesday, with the support of his NSW counterpart, David Trodden. It comes at a time the ARLC is at loggerheads with the code’s players over the failure to reach a collective bargaining agreement.
“Our relationship with NRL clubs is hugely important,” Ikin said. “We build the base, the NRL clubs put on the show. The meeting was arranged so the NRL club CEOs could better understand how we deploy our funding.”
The trigger to the meeting is a possible national reserve grade competition which the QRL insist would emasculate their state cup. The possibility of the Cowboys and Titans entering teams in Queensland’s Hostplus competition would mean two professional teams competing against the existing 15 clubs which comprise mainly part-time players. Each Queensland Hostplus club receives an annual grant of $350,000 which has effectively been frozen for six years. It covers a club’s administration, travel and coaching expenses but not the payment of players.
The QRL has asked for an additional grant of nearly $5 million to allow an increase in the $350,000 grant to $685,000 per Hostplus club, $500,000 for extra competition expenses and $350,000 each for the new Cowboys and Titans teams.
The ARLC rejected this demand at a meeting held in Brisbane prior to the second State of Origin match, precipitating Tuesday’s meeting. The NSWRL and QRL bosses seek an NRL club audience to understand their parlous financial position and correct any suggestion they are wasteful with spending. Trodden told the Herald recently, when asked about the state of bush football in NSW, that the ARLC grant to the NSWRL and QRL has been severely cut since COVID-19 and court action with the ARLC. He also insisted strict protocols have been imposed on how it is spent.
‘The NSW clubs have the resources to finance their existing professional infrastructures, whereas our small regional clubs do not.’
Ben Ikin
“We get a bucket of money for [State of] Origin and another one for administration of competitions across the state but the latter bucket does not prescribe any money for grants to bush footy clubs and regions,” he said.
Queensland’s four NRL clubs, as well as Melbourne, are split on a national reserve grade competition, with the Broncos, Dolphins and Storm each having three feeder clubs to house their surplus players. Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett is a major supporter of the existing competition structure, and was recently quoted as saying Queensland has a rugby league footprint across the state the envy of any code.
“A national reserve grade league, where matches are played as curtain raisers to NRL games, could potentially cause the demise of clubs such as Mackay Cutters, the Cairns-based Northern Pride and the Rockhampton-based Central Queensland Capras,” Ikin said.
Almost all NSW NRL clubs have affiliated teams in the 13-club second tier Knock-On Effect Cup which includes foundation clubs Newtown Jets and North Sydney Bears, as well as the New Zealand Warriors. However, the NSW-based NRL clubs all receive the standard grant of $17m per club, plus the second-division allowance of $350,000. “The NSW clubs have the resources to finance their existing professional infrastructures, whereas our small regional clubs do not,” Ikin said. Nevertheless, this masthead understands some Sydney-based NRL clubs oppose a national reserve grade competition.
Queensland Rugby League boss Ben Ikin.Credit: Getty
“If you want more proof that the affiliate model sets up the game for growth, just look at the potential candidates for NRL expansion – Brisbane Tigers, PNG Hunters, a relocated North Sydney Bears and Newtown Jets,” Ikin said. “All are currently playing as standalone affiliates in the NSW and Queensland Cup competitions … and let’s not forget where the Dolphins came from.”
He also points out that the Jets and Bears have added value to the code, with the Jets attracting enthusiastic crowds to Henson Park.
Rugby league is under siege from AFL, particularly in rural areas, with demands the development dollar be spent wisely. “The idea of a national reserve grade [competition] only works in the minds of people who don’t properly understand how the rugby league pathway has evolved,” Ikin said.
“We’ve taken the NRL footprint and multiplied it, creating more opportunity for more people in more places, not forgetting the positive impact each of those clubs make in their local community.
“Surely, if you’re an NRL executive, or an ARL commissioner that’s something you are fighting to protect and even replicate, not undermine.”
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo was contacted for comment.
