The final hurdle has been cleared for Peter V’landys to become the NRL’s first executive chairman after club chairs offered their unanimous support for the move.
The chairs of the clubs and state leagues took part in a phone hook-up on Saturday morning to discuss the ascension of V’landys to the new role. While Melbourne chair Matt Tripp and Wests Tigers counterpart Barry O’Farrell sent their apologies, all other officials backed the move during a half-hour conversation that began at 10:30am.
The appointment is expected to be rubber-stamped at a board meeting of the Australian Rugby League Commission scheduled for Wednesday.
The role will give V’landys unprecedented control over the game, but the club and state heads feel there are sufficient guardrails in place to ensure protections. His tenure will be for an initial three-year term, a move V’landys himself proposed to ensure good governance.
If there is a dispute between V’landys and the clubs and states, they will be able to negotiate with a lead independent director who will be tasked to help resolve the impasse.
While that role won’t be filled until V’landys ascends to his position, sources not authorised to speak publicly said ARL commissioners Peter Beattie and Gary Weiss are the leading contenders.
Once V’landys takes the job, he will set a date to finish at Racing NSW, where he has been the chief executive for 22 years.
V’landys is becoming executive chairman without calling a vote of clubs and states to amend the game’s constitution, which states that commissioners cannot be the CEO or an employee. Instead, he is relying on clause 53 of the document, which allows for the creation of other positions “from time to time” which can be occupied by members of the commission.
The sidestepping of constitutional change could be tested in court, but the unanimous support he received on Saturday suggests the key stakeholders have confidence in the direction V’landys is leading the game.
The meeting was convened by South Sydney Rabbitohs chair Nick Pappas, who has been liaising with V’landys and the Commission about the move.
“There was broad consensus among the clubs and the states,” Pappas said. “We have no objection to Peter taking that position – in fact we welcome it … There are some issues that require clarification in relation to guardrails around the position to ensure governance at the highest level, which is what Peter wants as well.
“We are not at cross purposes on this … there is nothing that would act as an obstacle to him taking up that position.”
V’landys has been acting as NRL chief for the past two months, having taken four months long-service leave from Racing NSW to fill the gap when Andrew Abdo departed for Tennis Australia.
He has cast a large shadow as chairman since his appointment in 2019, but will now permanently direct day-to-day operations as well as heading up the commission.
It is a rare occurrence in Australian sport, where there is generally a separation of powers between the management and the board.
The title provides V’landys even greater authority than the heads of US sports such as NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who are answerable to team owners.
His elevation to executive chairman has raised governance concerns with some in the game, not about V’landys personally, but about a single figure wielding such control.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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