Club bosses have welcomed a briefing by NSW and Queensland officials regarding a push by the state bodies to be granted an additional $15 million in funding from the NRL to help run their competitions.
Officials at a high-powered meeting on Tuesday also agreed not to support the idea of a national reserve grade competition, and proposed the State of Origin series be held over a four-week period, with games played on three consecutive Wednesdays.
NSW Rugby League boss Dave Trodden and Queensland Rugby League counterpart Ben Ikin were joined by 14 of the 17 NRL club bosses at NSW’s Sydney Olympic Park headquarters on Tuesday, with the Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors and Wests Tigers dialling into the two-hour presentation.
In a separate development, the NRL is today expected to meet with the Rugby League Players’ Association in the latest bid to resolve the long-running stand-off over the collective bargaining agreement.
NSWRL receives about $24 million in funding from the NRL and wants that figure to increase to around $28 million, while the QRL is pushing for just over $30 million in funding – an increase of roughly $10 million – which would go towards raising grants to their Queensland Cup clubs from $350,000 to $650,000 each year.
Trodden and Ikin told this masthead it had been important to give the NRL clubs a snapshot of how the states had spent their money, and said if their application for a funding increase was not granted, it would lead to their businesses being compressed.
“The purpose of today was to let the NRL clubs know the money we do receive from the NRL is well spent,” said Trodden, with Ikin adding: “It was nothing political, it was all about transparency with a view to building greater trust, and working closely with the clubs to get better outcomes for the game.”
Dave Trodden and Ben Ikin after addressing the NRL club chiefs on Tuesday.Credit: Nick Moir/SMH
Queensland’s request for a larger increase was to do with the Titans and Cowboys entering the Queensland Cup next year.
The annual grant to clubs has not been increased in six years, said Ikin, while the 15 existing clubs did not have the benefit of using centres of excellence, which are readily available to most of the NSW Cup sides aligned with NRL clubs.
In NSWRL’s case, their proposal for additional funding was submitted to the ARL Commission in July last year.
If the ARLC did not meet the state bodies’ requests, Trodden and Ikin said it would have an impact on participation and pathways.
South Sydney chief Blake Solly and Penrith counterpart Matt Cameron emerge from NSWRL’s HQ.Credit: Nick Moir
“The participation base is growing, the game wants expansion at the elite level, and that comes from investing in community football and pathways,” Ikin said.
The new QRL boss said he would meet with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo on Wednesday. The NRL had wanted to sit in on Tuesday’s meeting with the clubs, but Ikin said that request was “politely rejected”.
The NRL had floated the idea of rolling out a national reserve grade competition to be played before each game, but not one club was in support of the concept.
“It was raised, but nobody wants it, and there’s no merit in it,” Ikin said. “All it does is narrow the pathways. Why replace 15 statewide clubs in Queensland with four NRL reserve grade teams?
Trodden said: “It doesn’t have any widespread support from the actual NRL clubs. Some clubs wanted to know why it was still on the table.”
Origin was also raised with clubs wanting the series to have less of an impact on their competition. One idea was to have the series held over a month, with players entering camp on a Sunday night ahead of the first game on a Wednesday. Squad sizes would be increased to accommodate the tight turnarounds.
Any change to the format, however, would need the blessing of the broadcasters, which the clubs and state bodies acknowledged.
The NRL was contacted for comment.
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