NRL 2024: Retiring Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher says he is determined to win NRL funding fight

Few people in the NRL have the gumption to take on powerful ARLC boss Peter V’landys, but retiring QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher has vowed to fight until the day he departs.

QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher. NRL Imagery

Retiring Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher has vowed to go down swinging in the state’s bitter fight against the NRL.

Hatcher will officially step down as QRL boss on October 31 following a seven-year reign in Queensland league’s top job.

At 78, and with an established board and CEO Ben Ikin leading the way, Hatcher realised he was ready to call time on a 60-year association with the game.

But Hatcher will not go down without a fight, insisting he will challenge NRL heavyweights Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo until the QRL obtains the funding model and power it believes is fair.

“I don’t think they’re right. It’s been unjust and unfair,” Hatcher said in his first interview about retirement.

“You see so many volunteers do it all for nothing. When you have to tell them our funding’s been cut and we’ll have to cut competitions, you realise you can’t give up.

“I don’t like to be pushed around. I will listen and assess an argument, but if I don’t agree with it I won’t lie down.

“You can’t lead a state in a game like rugby league if you fall over because someone disagrees with you or calls you names. You just keep fighting harder.

“It’s not about whether Peter V’landys likes me, it’s about whether Queensland ends up with its fair share of funding.

“My old headmasters used to say ‘finish hard’ and I intend to finish really hard then get on a horse and ride into the sunset. You’ll never see me again.”

Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher will step down in October. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

Hatcher has maroon blood in his veins.

Born in Childers in 1946, he forged a promising first grade career with Easts in the Brisbane Rugby League in the early 1970s and counts super coach Wayne Bennett, among many Queensland league identities, as a close friend.

But business was where Hatcher truly succeeded, the accountant also holding numerous board roles, including on the Queensland Academy of Sport for 21 years.

Since replacing Peter Betros at the helm of the QRL in 2017, Hatcher has fought gallantly for the game in Queensland.

But his biggest battle has come in recent times with the QRL now embroiled in a courtroom stoush with the NRL over a funding disagreement.

With six months until he steps down, Hatcher vowed to continue fighting for what he thought was right, even if it meant taking on powerful ARL Commission chairman V’landys.

“I’ve been in business a long time. You do things once and get it right,” Hatcher said.

“That’s why we need to go to court – to get an independent body to interpret the agreements we’ve got.

“We think we should be adequately funded, be responsible for all intrastate football and run the State of Origin program. That’s where all the crossovers are happening.

“If we knew we were going to be treated like second class citizens there’s no way we would have ceded a lot of our power to them.”

Hatcher has been at the helm of the QRL since 2017. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

Hatcher wasn’t required to vacate his position for another two years under the QRL’s three-term maximum rule for board members and his successor is yet to be appointed.

However with three respected female directors – Naomi McCarthy, Renita Gerard and Samantha Bliss – established and football acumen in Maroons legend Cooper Cronk, Hatcher believes the time is right.

“There’s no coup, I’m not being pushed and I’m not going to change my mind,” he said.

“I can do three terms, but the reality is we’ve got a really good board who is smart and Ben and his team bring a lot of good football knowledge.

“I’m not a believer in doing your three terms for the sake of it. It’s really appropriate now that a new pair of hands takes over.

“I’ve spent a lot of my time consulting to businesses and there’s no such thing as a succession plan until you’ve nominated the date you’re walking out the door and not coming back.

“I want to finish hard, tie a few things up and stabilise our relationship with the NRL so we don’t have to go through this nonsense every year of trying to get funding.

“When you’ve got a 100-year-old chairman, I think it’s time for fresh blood.”

Hatcher loves beating NSW in State of Origin. Picture: Adam Head

Hatcher has never backed down from a fight, but after a while the constant head butts with head office wear thin.

Wife of 52 years, Trisha, with whom Hatcher shares three children, wants to see more of her husband. Something he jokes she may later regret.

Hatcher just hopes he can leave with the QRL’s funding spat resolved and after Queensland claims a third straight Origin series victory.

“The other thing that burns hard in your soul is beating NSW at Origin,” Hatcher said.

“I used to go to every interstate game and we’d get flogged. Half of the NSW team were Queenslanders.

“It has been a breath of fresh air to see these young guys want to play for the state and be proud.

“A mate of mine who used to open the batting for Queensland told me he was playing at the WACA one day and had to go out after tea to face Dennis Lillee. He said he didn’t want to do it. That’s when he realised he was finished.

“I’m not at that point yet but it’s time. I’ve got absolute enthusiasm and good faith in the people coming through.”

Originally published as NRL 2024: Retiring Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher says he is determined to win NRL funding fight