NRL 2020: Peter V’landys reveals personal toll saving rugby league from COVID-19 crisis took on him
PART TWO: In the second instalment of a revealing two-part interview with Phil Rothfield, ARLC boss Peter V’landys tells of the personal toll saving the NRL took on him as rugby league went from one disaster to the next.
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Peter V’landys is getting emotional and about to break down as he starts to explain the downward spiral and psychological scars from the most tumultuous two months of his life.
This is the human side of a 58-year-old business warrior we’ve never previously seen.
We’re discussing the personal and private strain from his COVID-19 rugby league rescue operation.
The daily dramas of flu vaccination refusals, referee strike threats, stupid players breaking social distancing protocols, coaches in revolt over rule changes and TV-talk breakdowns as he relentlessly fought to save the game he loves.
The NRL’s independent commission boss and Racing NSW supremo has also been labelled both reckless and irresponsible by opponents of his robust business practices.
But suddenly he reveals the softer side and the extraordinary toll it has taken on him personally.
How he has often battled on two hours sleep a night, been binge eating on junk food, too busy to exercise and regularly feeling down and dejected.
Personal strain
This week V’landys has taken a week’s holiday from Racing NSW. He needed the break.
“A lot of issues in life come from lack of sleep,” he says, “Your moods, your energy and it can create health issues. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t sleep.
“You get a bit down. I don’t want to use the word depressed, but I got really down.
“I was just so tired. So exhausted. Even sad and dejected.
“I don’t want to devalue someone who is actually depressed but I was in a downward spiral.
“I’d go to bed, have no trouble falling asleep, but then wake up and couldn’t get back to sleep. Some nights I’d only get two hours.”
It is hard to believe this is the same man who appeared indestructible and has carried himself so confidently in recent months.
“When things were not going right all this stuff is going through your head,” he said.
“At times I thought why am I even doing this? It might bloody kill me.
“My family medical history isn’t the greatest. I lost my dad to cancer at 64.
“All this crosses your mind. I’ve got three young kids and your health is your greatest asset.”
His poor diet and lack of exercise didn’t help.
Sleepless nights and then getting up to check and answer emails.
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“It was just head down, tail up,” he said, “You binge eat. I was eating the greatest lot of rubbish. Pies, chocolate, anything that’s not good for you. Chips. My diet was out the window.
“Then you get guilty because we have three beautiful young kids you want to spend as much time with them as possible. People kept saying, make sure you don’t lose the valuable time with the kids. It was in my head all the time.”
I ask V’landys where he will be on Thursday night, 7.30pm, when the Broncos and Parramatta run onto Suncorp Stadium as the first Australian sport to be back in business.
He starts to get emotional. We pause the interview for 10 to 20 seconds.
“I’ll be at home with my kids.” He says, “My son Nicholas is a rugby league tragic.
“I’ll be with the whole family. It will be very emotional and I might even tear up.
“I just thank god each day that I’m still alive,” he said.
The leader
Former QLD premier Peter Beattie stood down as chairman for V’landys in October last year.
In the most remarkable tribute, he rates V’landys alongside his old mate, legendary Prime Minister Bob Hawke, as a deal maker.
LISTEN! In a special edition of The Daily Telegraph NRL Podcast, Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield tells Adam Mobbs about his behind-the-scenes story on how Peter V’landys and the NRL overcame a litany of obstacles to become the first major sporting code in Australia to return to the field.
“V’landys has grabbed the game by the throat and dragged it to the starting line on May 28,” Beattie said, “His energy, his drive and his determination have been quite extraordinary.
“Rugby league was so dysfunctional and I don’t know who else could have done it.
“Seriously, he’s right up there alongside Bob Hawke as a leader.
“Hawkey had that delivery and common touch to get things done and that’s exactly what V’landys is like. A bit rough around the edges but that’s what Australians love. Go ask the fans.
“In future they’ll do phds on all this and how he saved the game.”
I asked head of football Graham Annesley about the Bob Hawke line. He’s been in the war room for 14 hours every day alongside V’landys for much of it: “It’s not a bad comparison – both tough exteriors and high achievers.”
V’landys gets uncomfortable when I tell him of these comments.
He insists this return of rugby league – one of the first major sports around the world to be playing again – has been a team effort.
But Beattie continues.
“If it wasn’t for V’landys there was a strong possibility the game could have fallen over,” he insists.
“He’s done a masterful job to get the clubs onside, coaches and the players. Has that ever happened before? No way.
“Seriously they should build a statue of V’landys one day outside Allianz Stadium. The man who saved rugby league. The man who never sleeps.”
Outside of the TV talks, the independent commission has met eight times in a month.
“He has kept us informed of every development,” Beattie said.
Project Apollo
V’landy’s puts legendary Balmain Tigers forward and independent commissioner Wayne Pearce in charge.
The committee includes Troy Grant (government relations), coaches Trent Robinson and Wayne Bennett, RLPA boss Clint Netown, Head of Football Graham Annesley, Canberra Raiders CEO Don Furner, acting NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, James Bowland Rudder (government relations) and Liz Deegan (communications).
The first step is to find the bio-security experts. Professor David Heslopp, Infectious disease expert Dr Cassy Workman and decontamination expert Shane Healey become their chief advisors and the critical players.
“We needed credibility and the best experts in town,” Pearce said.
“We had a heap of passion and a lot of football in the room but we couldn’t go anywhere without their expertise.
“That’s what got us over the line. That’s what convinced the government we knew what we were doing. We took a gamble with the May 28 target but the more we focused, the more it became do-able.”
They mostly met in the Showground room on the second floor of Moore Park headquarters, although sometimes by a Zoom conference.
A key point for V’landys was getting a letter of agreement from Police commissioner Mick Fuller.
While there had been no legislation to shut down sport, there was still enormous opposition.
“I rang Mick and had his support from day one,” V’landys said.
“So when all these people came out to fire bullets and attack us, it was very handy. We weren’t breaking any laws.
“People kept saying I had no right to do what we were doing. But I did. And I’ll be forever grateful to the commissioner.”
V’landy’s and Project Apollo were driven by statistics.
“The people calling me reckless were ill-informed,” V’landys said, “The infection rate was falling every day.”
So much so that having every player and club move into a bubble in Homebush was scrapped for a self isolation policy.
“Professor David Heslopp was fantastic. He knew his stuff and told us that even without self-isolation it was a 1000/1 chance of a player getting it.
“And then 10,000/1 if they were isolated.
“You know there’s a 1000/1 chance you can have a car accident on the way to the ground.
“The more analysis we did the more confident I got.
“My only concern was the risk within. Like the club doctors working in hospitals. If you’re a GP and someone comes in you don’t know if they’ve got coronavirus until they do a test.
“Also Like those on the coaching staffs who worked in TV. That was the weakness.
The Warriors
Without the Auckland based team, the TV deal was in jeopardy because of the contract to provide eight games in content each weekend.
This would have given Channel 9 the out they wanted.
There was always a concern about border authorities allowing the team into the country.
This is where V’landys again called on his influential contacts without directly going to government.
He contacted the boss of Sky News Paul Whittaker, who is his regular guest on big race days in the directors’ suite at Royal Randwick.
They annually go to the Melbourne Cup together.
Whittaker has direct line to the PM and all senior politicians in Canberra. If you need a part-time lobbyist, there is no-one better or more powerful.
“Paul could run any public company in Australia,” V’landys said, “He’s as good in business as anyone I’ve met. And I’ve met a lot of intelligent and very smart people.
“If you’ve got friends and contacts like him, you’d be mad not to get their help.”
V’landys also called 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley to help lobby the government.
Despite denials from Prime Minister Scott Morrison a deal had been done for the Warriors to fly to Australia, it was announced on Saturday May 2 the team had been cleared to cross the ditch and set up a temporary base in Tamworth.
“There were a lot of politicians who helped us, not just with the Warriors” V’landys said.
“You can have a great relationship but you’ve still got to be able to prosecute your argument. They believed in us.”
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Latrell Mitchell-Josh Addo Carr
If there is a softer side to V’landys it is around the players. He knows … no footballers, no game.
The thoughtless actions of two of the NRL’s biggest names - Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr - could have ruined the May 28 comeback plan.
On Sunday night, April 26, right on 8.47pm, the game faced its next big hurdle and embarrassment.
I sent the commission chairman the photo from Addo-Carr’s social media account of the two players at a campfire on Mitchell’s property at Caffreys Flat near Taree with 10 other men, breaking social distancing rules with a message “Mate can we talk about this.”
The Daily Telegraph back page headline the next morning screamed ‘BUSTED’.
This was a major humiliation for the game.
The commission chairman had spent weeks convincing politicians and health officials that players were on board and could be trusted to take the COVID-19 restrictions seriously.
V’landys put pressure on Nick Weeks, the head of integrity, to act quickly and wanted harsh penalties. Weeks argued that long suspensions would be penalising the clubs and the fans.
Both escaped suspensions but copped $20,000 fines instead.
The game again came under attack for the soft punishment. The players not only broke COVID-19 laws but were charged with firearm offences. Also Addo-Carr had two previous warnings.
V’landys was frustrated by their actions but not filthy.
“I’ve met Latrell and I like him,” V’landys said, “He’s a 22-year-old kid who has been pulled in so many different directions. I actually think he’s done well to get to where he has.
“I don’t want to play it down but there was no malice or intention to hurt anyone.
“They were more naïve than anything else. The concern was that this would be used against us coming back. They gave ammunition to the critics of what we were trying to do.
“Was it going to affect us with the government and health experts? How badly would it set us back?
“The fact it was posted on social media proves they thought they were doing nothing wrong.”
It got even worse when Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary was caught hosting a party at home and appearing on a Tik Tok video with a group of young females. He then lied to the integrity unit.
“The cover-up was worse than the crime,” V’landys said, “That’s what disappointed me.
“He hasn’t molested anyone or gone drink driving. He was having a good time with a few young ladies like all 22-year-olds do. It was wrong because COVID-19 protocols but at least he’s shown great remorse.”
The power players
Many in the game have a direct line to V’landys. It’s his strength that he will take phone calls 24/7.
Keeping the likes of Nick Politis, Wayne Bennett and Phil Gould all on side is a tough one.
Nick Politis is the game’s most influential official. He’s worth billions.
Politis wanted the teams stripped competition points because the season was shortened and the draw changed. V’landys said no.
Politis wanted to keep two referees – V’landys said no.
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“I have so much respect for Nick, Phil Gould and Wayne,” V’landys said.
“At times I had to act against them but in my heart I knew I was doing it for the right reasons.
“It wasn’t to harm or hurt them but we just disagreed. You can’t keep everyone happy.
“I’ve been successful in my career by making the calls I believe are right.
“Wayne has rung me a few times and adamantly disagreed with me but at the end of it he says you do what you believe. And he’d back me.
“The same with Nick, who’s been such a successful individual and such an intelligent man.
“The game needs to listen to these people.”
May 28 return date
Most thought it was an impossible dream. That July would be more realistic.
“If I was wrong we’d push the date back,” Vlandys said, “Simple as that.
“I’d have been filthy if we’d got to May 28 with zero infection and we’d done nothing about getting the game back. Imagine that.
“Id’ have let the fans down, the players, down, coaches, sponsors, thousands of people.
“It was so important to have a target and have everyone across it.”
The media
V’landys is used to dealing with half a dozen racing journalists each week in the sports pages.
Now he was a front page story, and not all of it complimentary.
“This has been the hardest part,” he said, “If you knock someone back it’s like you’ve killed someone. I didn’t realise how unrelenting it was.
“I’ve always prided myself on treating everyone equally. If the young journo from the Nowra paper rang I’d treat him like everyone else.
“I’d treat a street cleaner the same as the prime minister. That’s who I am.
“At the end of the day we’re all the same.”