CHANGING GAME’S FACE

Q

What is the biggest challenge the NRL faces in the future, as there are a few?

A

It is about expansion. We do need to expand and that’s not easy. The clubs are getting more money than they ever have before and so they should. I believe you can’t have a successful competition without successful clubs which is why I want to have their representatives sitting around the table at the NRL Commission. That’s one of the reasons why the reforms are important. No constitution is perfect – if the new one gets up, I’ll make it work and if it fails, I’ll make the old one work.

Q

What does expansion look like in your eyes? Adding new clubs or relocating existing ones?

A

Connor, I can’t answer that at this period because this is not going to happen tomorrow. It’s something that will happen over years but why I threw that out there deliberately is I want the teams who have got the potential – whether it is the Jets in Ipswich or the Dolphins in Redcliffe, whether it is PNG or Western Australia, I want the teams to start working towards that. Frankly what they have to do, without wanting to be too unpleasant about it, is they have got to prove they can run a good club, they can run it financially and they have got the capacity to be an NRL team. A number of groups that I just mentioned can already do that but at the end of the day we have got to make sure it stacks up financially.