NRL officials splurge on luxury hire cars

[Toads]

What's the Buzz: NRL officials splurge on luxury hire cars

Phil Rothfield The Sunday Telegraph August 18, 2013 12:00AM


EXPOSED: SOME of the NRL's $1 billion television deal is being spent on chauffeur-driven hire cars for senior officials.

Both chief executive Dave Smith and chairman John Grant travel around Sydney in luxury limos.

On Wednesday, Smith was spotted being dropped off at St Leonards for a meeting with other sports administrators at ARU headquarters. So we phoned a hire car company to get a quote from his Moore Park office to St Leonards, returning an hour later.

It was $283, thank you very much. No wonder the NRL has had to double the price of grand final tickets.

As a service to the game, we today publish the phone numbers for the regular taxi services which charge about $70 for the same round trip. Legion 131 451, ABC 132 522, Combined 133 300, Silver Service 133 100, RSL 9581 1111.

Imagine not having to pay $200 to get Smith from point A to point B. Same with Grant. It would save the game tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Other CEOs at the St Leonards meeting either caught taxis or drove their own cars.

The week before, Smith again travelled by hire car to a meeting at Penrith. The cost was about $500.

The outrageous amount of money being spent at NRL headquarters on management expenses is the talk of the game.

Chauffeur-driven limos might be alright in the banking industry where billions of dollars in profits are being made. But rugby league? Please. The game is already $10 million over budget this year.

This over-indulgence is happening at a time when clubs are going broke, the grassroots is struggling and the international game is a joke.

This week the Italian Rugby League side was informed by the international body that they would have to pay their own airfares to the World Cup.

Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands are all being looked after.

The Italians now have two months to raise $64,000 for the airfares or withdraw from the tournament.

While the Kangaroos, Kiwis and Great Britain players are on big money to play in the event, the likes of Anthony Minichiello, Terry Campese and Craig Gower are playing for nothing.

NRL administration costs have trebled since the independent commission and Smith took over the running of the game.

More than 140 staff, plus consultants, are now working at League Central headquarters.

Yet, astonishingly, events like the pre-season Nines tournament have been outsourced to a private promoter who stands to make millions of dollars profit from the event.


Source: dailytelegraph.com.au

[Toads]

Admittedly, these sort of expenses are going to be required from time to time to cart a few Big Wigs around together occasionally. But C'mon.. it a bit of a stretch (pardon the pun) to cart Smith and Grant around exclusively.

[kioli]

It's another Rothfield gossip column about Grant and Smith. The pisshead has serious issues... God forbid the DT's chief sports journo actually wrote about NRL games instead of pursuing personal agendas so publicly.