Graham Annesley should be Dave Smith’s right-hand man in NRL management shake-up

GRAHAM Annesley should be appointed Dave Smith’s right-hand man as part of an NRL management shake-up, writes Phil Rothfield.

Let’s get straight to the point. The game of rugby league is in turmoil and only one man can fix it.

Former NSW minister for sport Graham Annesley should be appointed Dave Smith’s right-hand man as part of management shake-up at the NRL.

Annesley is the former referee who knows the business back to front from his days as a deputy to David Gallop.

News_Image_File: Graham Annesley, the chief executive of the Titans.

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For almost a decade he was the code’s head of football, in charge of the schedule, referees, rules and the salary cap.

He was an honest, hard-working, grassroots man who would often turn up for work each day at 5am to deal with the day-to-day issues.

Now he has the political connections and experience to do an even better job.

It emerged on Tuesday that even the free football passes for junior participants hadn’t been sent out yet.

That’s right, seven rounds into the competition, and the kids are still waiting.

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No wonder crowds are down because these youngsters more often than not drag along mum and dad, who in turn pay at the turnstiles.

Attendances are still down by 11 percent, despite the bumper crowds at ANZ Stadium over the Easter weekend.

The standard of refereeing is at an all-time low with terrible blunders effecting the weekly results.

Even the lifting tackle crackdown is a joke. Three players were charged last weekend but will plead guilty and not miss a week.

Who cares that the game now has $49 million in the bank?

So it should after striking a new $1 billion TV deal that came from the fact the pre-commission administration lifted the game to unparalleled heights.

News_Image_File: NRL CEO, Dave Smith and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Doyle.

Massive increases in State of Origin ticket prices might contribute to the annual profit but also put the showpiece game of the season beyond reach of the average footy fan.

Apart from hiring Annesley, the independent commission needs a revamp too with an injection of footy experience and knowledge.

They don’t understand why people aren’t going to the football because they’ve spent their lives in corporate boxes where there’s no queues for a beer or the bathroom.

They don’t recognise the pain supporters are feeling from the weekly refereeing blunders.

News_Rich_Media: Wayne Bennett has weighed into the debate surrounding how tries are awarded in the NRL, calling on video referees to have a larger say in determining whether or not a try has actually been scored.

They don’t appreciate that 65 percent of Sydney and Brisbane don’t have pay TV and get only one live game on free-to-air.

Had they gone with Lachlan Murdoch’s Channel TEN bid we would be watching five live free to air matches instead of one on Friday night.

They don’t understand that a game should have been played last Thursday evening at the beginning of the Easter holiday.

Instead they signed off on a draw with two out-of-town games competing against each other 24 hours later in Newcastle and Gosford on Friday night.

News_Image_File: NRL CEO, Dave Smith at NRL HQ.

The whole draw is a sham. As the weekend ANZ Stadium crowds showed, we need two conferences, one with all Sydney teams.

Former NRL chief executive and businessman John Quayle should have been on the commission in the first place.

He would make a great chairman.

Ben Ikin should replace Wayne Pearce. Who cares if he works for Fox Sports?

He can abstain from broadcast deal negotiations.

News_Image_File: Fox Sports commentator Ben Ikin.

He is the smartest and most impressive former player in decades.

Harvey Norman boss Katie Page should replace Catherine Harris. A rugby league tragic, she should have been on the commission in the first place.

Katie knows the retail market better than most. She knows how to sell her product, even in the toughest economic climate.

She knows what the punters and fans want.

They are the lifeblood of the game and deserve a better administration that what we have right now.