NRL commission chairman John Grant says sorry for naming gaffes on Sunday

NRL commission chairman John Grant has apologised for his Manly “Seagulls” and Cronulla “Hawks” gaffes while announcing the Kangaroos team.

NRL commission chairman John Grant has apologised for his Manly “Seagulls” and Cronulla “Hawks” gaffes while announcing the Kangaroos team on Sunday afternoon.

“They were unacceptable errors,” Grant told The Daily Telegraph.

“I’ve got no idea where it came from. I made a mistake, simple as that.

“There’s nothing in my mind that identifies Manly other than the Sea Eagles or Cronulla as the Sharks.

“It’s ridiculous. There’s no explanation other than to acknowledge a total error.

“I feel very uncomfortable about it in terms of Manly and Cronulla. It’s just an error that I’m sorry I made. It’s not where I want to be as a person.”

John Grant with the ‘new’ logos for Manly and Cronulla.

This is not the first time the game’s administration has been caught out like this.

On his first day in office, CEO Dave Smith famously admitted he didn’t know the name of the Kangaroos captain and then referred to “Benji Barba” at last year’s season launch.

Grant, though, has been around for a long time as a player and administrator.

It turns out that NRL’s normally highly dependable media manager Dave Taylor was responsible for typing the Manly “Seagulls” on the media release, which Grant read from.

“Another error from the media department doesn’t make up for the fact I made two,” Grant said.

Cronulla Sharks chairman Damian Keogh said he was not concerned about the mistake.

“I’m going to have to give John the benefit of the doubt,” Keogh said.

“I’m not sure how it happened because I’m sure he knows our brand.

“It’s just one of those slip-ups and I’m not going to crucify him over that.”

Commission Chairman, John Grant, and Kangaroos coach, Tim Sheens.

Grant’s term as commission chairman officially ends in February next year.

Still, he may decide to stay on.

“My original term for was three years,” he said.

“Each year there is a process to re-appoint the chair.

“My three-year term ends in February and I’ll make a decision closer to that time, probably at the end of the season, if I’ll nominate for another term.

“As an organisation, we’ve still got lots to do. There’s a lot of opportunity to continue to build. We’re on a journey and I want to make sure what we started gets done.

“I don’t envisage that getting done by the end of the year. I don’t want to call out what I intend to do but it’s still a work in progress.”