Wheels of change are turning in rugby league circles
HEAR that?
Listen carefully. It is the grinding wheels of change and they are turning quicker in rugby league by the day.
By stealth and design, the move for an independent commission has been done in relative silence, behind closed doors and sans a slick spin doctor talking about the future, the vibe, the vision. But that doesn't mean progress isn't being made.
No deadline has been put on establishing an independent body - which will see News Limited and the ARL relinquish their control of rugby league - but whispers emerged over the weekend that it could materialise as early as September.
Maybe October.
This, despite clandestine moves from an individual north of the border to sabotage the attempt to drag rugby league's well-kicked butt into a new realm of professionalism.
You might remember the name: John Ribot de Bresac. Former Newtown, Wests and Manly winger. Chief architect of Super League. Recently appointed member of the QRL board.
Ribot has been actively campaigning against an independent commission or the model that is being suggested. He recently met with News Limited chief operating officer Peter Macourt and pointed out the flaws in the concept. It is understood Macourt wasn't won over by his argument.
The move is still on the agenda.
Macourt refused to comment yesterday and Ribot did not return calls, but presumably Ribot fears he is about to lose the modicum of power which he's finally regained after slipping onto the QRL board in December last year.
As the wheels of change continue to grind, Ribot is not the Lone Ranger. Titans boss Michael Searle is the man trying to make this happen. Indeed, Kofi Annan has an easier job.
Searle has mooted a non-profit organisation overseen by a commission comprising heavy hitters across a range of industries from the big end of town. Those commissioners will be appointed by the 16 NRL clubs.
The NSWRL and QRL will become second-tier bodies, running the game at a grassroots level but relinquishing power of the headline representative fixtures.
The problem, it seems, is what will happen to the ARL. While there has been much focus on shifting News Limited from its mooring, some reckon what will happen to the ARL has been overlooked.
From all reports, News Limited - publishers of The Daily Telegraph - is ready to let go. With this in mind, the latest interference being run from the QRL is that State of Origin is in grave danger of being abolished under Searle's model.
It's nonsense. What commissioner or club would toss the jewel in rugby league's crown into the ocean? And when Searle repeatedly says the commission will be truly independent of influence from the clubs and old ARL and News Limited factions, you tend to believe him.
At a very basic level, the struggle has been boiled down to this: the power the ARL is prepared to give up and what News Limited wants to quietly slip away.
Nobody can quite spell this out and what it will precisely take for the ARL and News Limited to end the Mexican stand-off. That's because a very un-rugby league thing is happening - none of this is being played out in press.
It's being played out in the offices of the game's heaviest hitters with the doors firmly shut. But don't underestimate what looms. The wheels of change are quietly grinding away, towards the most significant move in rugby league's history.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/