League stars back ex-boss Greenberg for cricket role
FEUDING NRL legends Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk have combined to help Todd Greenberg land his breakthrough comeback to sports administration.
Compelling character references from the two greats as well as members of the Jillaroos national women’s rugby league team shaped the confidence of the Australian Cricketers’ Association
that Greenberg was the ultimate “players’ CEO”.
It’s understood Smith, Cronk and Jillaroos captain Ali Brigginshaw were among those who endorsed Greenberg’s credentials to the ACA, with the association’s board on Monday ratifying the former NRL boss as its new chief executive: making the 50-year-old the best-connected leader the organisation has had.
The ACA will allow Greenberg to continue living in Sydney,
away from its Melbourne base, and the veteran administrator’s first big task will be to begin laying the groundwork for next year’s new MOU — something he started yesterday, making contact with Cricket Australia’s big bosses.
Greenberg was always renowned in rugby league circles for having a close relationship with players during his five years running the sport.
He was criticised in 2019 when the NRL gifted Smith’s wife, Barbara, a diamond ring to recognise the important support role she played in the Melbourne Storm star creating history by becoming the first to play 400 NRL games.
Smith revealed in his book that the backlash he, his wife and Greenberg copped made him consider quitting the game.
The genuineness of Greenberg’s dedication to respecting his players cannot be questioned, according to one Australian women’s rugby league star, who told the Cricketers’ Association how the simple act of always referring to her partner by name showed that Greenberg cared about relationships.
Smith and Cronk have not seen eye-to-eye since their wellpublicised fallout, but the former Storm teammates agree on Greenberg’s credentials for influencing cricket’s playing group.