NRL CEO Todd Greenberg promises change following off-season from hell

After one of the most tumultuous rugby league off-seasons ever, in an exclusive column NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has made a promise to disillusioned fans.

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There has probably never been a tougher Rugby League off-season than we’ve had in the last three months.

I’ve been disappointed by some of things which have happened and we have let down our fans.

But my pledge is simple … we are going to make sure we don’t go down a path like this again.

Rugby League should be celebrating a sensational 2018 season.

We are now the most watched sporting code in Australia.

We again had three of the top four rating shows of the year courtesy of the Origin matches and Grand Final. Only the Commonwealth Games stopped us getting the trifecta.

For the first time in many years our crowds were up, ratings across Australia and New Zealand were up, memberships rose and more people are playing Rugby League.

Rugby league has lurched from one crisis to the next. AAP Image/Joel Carrett.

We are poised to return a surplus of around $50 million.

Not bad for a business which was seeking a bank lending facility 18 months ago.

But no one has to remind me that there is a lot more to our game than the football.

It wouldn’t bother me if no club ever held a Mad Monday celebration again. I can’t see how they do anything for our brand.

The criminal charges currently before the courts are also damaging to the image of our game. No doubt about it.

I’m not about to say anything which will influence any of those cases because everyone is entitled to a fair hearing. The presumption of innocence is at the core to our justice system.

But I give this assurance. If any of players are convicted of violence against women going forward I will have plenty to say. And the ramifications will be far greater than they have been in the past.

If you want to disrespect women you should go and find another profession. Not Rugby League.

The game’s image has copped a battering. AAP Image/Joel Carrett.

Same with the salary cap cheats and others looking to break the rules of the game.

For the last three years I’ve been forced to impose fines as high as $1 million and tell officials they are no longer welcome to be part of our game.

It’s the salary cap which keeps our competition as the closest in Australian sport. We are not going to let any club put that at risk.

Yet, again this week, we had to issue breach notices proposing heavy sanctions against the Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks. Last year it was Manly. Before that it was Parramatta.

I’ve had enough and the ARL Commission has had enough. They’ve said that if financial penalties aren’t an adequate deterrent I should look at docking competition points instead. So I will.

In other words, if a team wants to cheat the cap we will make it almost impossible for them to win such a tight competition.

And I have no doubt our passionate fans who love the game so much will vent their feelings to the management of any team which allows that to happen. Our fans should be just as interested in the calibre of their club leaders as they are in the playing roster.

What’s most frustrating is that we have around 500 players in the NRL and most of them not only do the right thing but perform incredible deeds in the community.

Cronulla have been accused of breaching the salary cap. Picture by Brett Costello.

But their reputations — and the standing of the game — are being trashed by the antics of a few. And it must stop.

So there are challenges and issues. But we will clean them up. We will lead and make decisions which won’t always be popular.

And once we get through these we are heading towards a remarkable 2019.

The All Stars match is back. Not in its old format but with the Australian Indigenous team taking on the Maori All Stars.

For the first time we will have a magic round with all games being played at the one venue, Suncorp Stadium on the same weekend. Those going to Brisbane will be able to see all eight games in Round 9 for less than $100!

And we will stage the first World Nines at the back end of the season. Another innovation.

And for the first time we take State of Origin to Perth. The match is six months away but already as good as a sell out.

And while some people didn’t like the coaching changes at the end of the season it sets up some incredible match-ups for 2019 as Ivan Cleary, Wayne Bennett and Anthony Seibold come up against their old clubs.

The other wildcard is the women’s game.

We never dreamt that it would be such a success last season. One million people watched the first Origin match on TV. Another million watched Premiership matches. And we are only in our first year.

When we go through dramas, like we have in the last couple of months, people say the game is resilient and will bounce back.

That’s probably true. But I want our game to be much more than resilient. I want it to grow. I want fans to be proud of it.

The onus of responsibility falls on all of us. And that’s where the focus will be in 2019.

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