Greenberg was the obvious choice for NRL CEO, writes Phil Rothfield

FROM the day Dave Smith packed up his office last year it was clear Todd Greenberg was not only the best candidate from within the game but also among the outside contenders. So what took so long?

• Greenberg to be named new NRL CEO to replace Dave Smith

TODD Greenberg was preparing to head home on Tuesday evening when he got a call from independent commission chairman John Grant asking to see him in the Messenger Room at NRL headquarters.

Greenberg knew this was his moment of truth.

He had always harboured a desire to be CEO of the NRL … and had just been through three gruelling sets of interviews to secure the post.

What he didn’t know is that the commission hadn’t just agreed to put him in the job - they voted unanimously for Greenberg to take over the role as the most important figure in the game, beating Accor Hotels boss Simon McGrath for the position.

Greenberg is expected to outline two priorities at his initial press conference - to get more people back to the games and more people watching on television.

In most eyes Greenberg was the obvious choice. It’s just a shame it took the independent commission so frustratingly long to recognise it.

From the day Dave Smith packed up his office on October 20 last year it was clear this man was not only the best candidate from within the game but also among the outside contenders.

Why? Because as a result of the Smith disaster, the game desperately needed someone who knew rugby league inside out, from the grassroots to the big end of town.

Someone who knew who the Australian captain was, someone who knew the video bunker couldn’t rule on forward passes and someone outside of Vaucluse who better understands the western suburbs and the “battler” demographic of the game.

Something the former CEO could never get his head around.

Former NRL Dave Smith with new CEO Todd Greenberg and ARL Chairman John Grant. Picture: Mark Evans

Right now the game needs someone who can hold down a strong relationship with the 16 clubs, their members and their fans. Someone who can sit down and have a coffee with Nick Politis, Ray Dib, Gus Gould and Bob Fulton and understand why they are hurting in club land.

For too long the NRL has been at loggerheads with these major stakeholders.

The sniping can now stop. Greenberg was the choice of the club powerbrokers because has been in their shoes before and knows about their problems.

What became blatantly obvious as soon as Smith left the building is that senior staff like the former Bulldogs boss had been shackled.

He had a lot of good ideas that Smith just refused to approve.

Privately he complained that State of Origin tickets were too expensive but nobody listened.

Not until there was so many empty seats a fortnight from kick-off and they had to practically give them away.

Dave Smith has finally been replaced by the guy in the office next-door.

Probably Greenberg’s best achievement was setting up the video bunker and getting the support of influential rugby league figures behind it.

Before the season started Greenberg drove to 2GB in his own car, picked up broadcaster Ray Hadley, and took him on a guided tour of the bunker in Eveleigh.

He did the same with Channel Nine and Fox Sports commentators too.

So much work had gone into it and he was determined to make sure everyone was on board.

The biggest criticism of Greenberg in recent years was is handling of Ben Barba’s issues when he was CEO at the Canterbury Bulldogs and suggestions of a cover-up over domestic violence allegations.

To this day he insisted he didn’t have the evidence to go to the police.

Moving forward, rugby league faces some huge challenges in the near future.