V’landys says Andrew Abdo will be best NRL CEO ever

Andrew Abdo has some big decisions to make in coming months. Top of the list, however, will be savage cuts at Rugby League Central.

Andrew Abdo after being announced as the new chief executive of the NRL by ARLC chairman Peter V’landys. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Andrew Abdo has some big decisions to make in coming months.

A quick summary of his to-do list includes a destination for this year’s NRL grand final, the prospect of expansion into Brisbane and balancing the competing interests of clubs and players when it comes to the salary cap.

Top of the list, however, will be the savage cuts at Rugby League Central as he looks to shave $50m from the game’s operating costs.

There will be pain involved as Abdo presides over cuts that are designed to ensure the game flourishes, albeit at immense personal cost.

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Still, it’s hard to believe anything could compare to his first four months in the hottest of hot seats. Abdo has been a calm and composed voice during a time of crisis as rugby league, like every other sport in the country, has teetered on the brink of disaster.

His work in an interim capacity has been so impressive that the ARL Commission canned their plans to conduct a worldwide search for a chief executive and on Thursday confirmed that he had been handed the job permanently.

Abdo will be under scrutiny, not least because he now must also live up to the billing of ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys, who on

Thursday claimed Abdo would go down as the greatest chief executive in the game’s history.

No pressure.

“I would say to you today — and I hope I am right and I know I am right — that Andrew will be the best CEO the NRL has ever had,” V’landys said.

“He has had the longest job interview in history. You test a person’s character with a crisis and there has never been a bigger crisis in Australia than this medical emergency.

“Andrew has led the ship through this emergency as good as anyone I have seen. He has been calm, he has been collected. I couldn’t think of a better person to see us through this crisis.

“He was thrown in the deep end and he was either going to sink or (swim). There was no need to go any further than Andrew. He is as good a CEO as I have seen in my career and I have been around a long time. I stress again, he has the potential to be the best CEO the NRL has ever had.”

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo with ARLC chairman Peter V'landys at League Central in Sydney. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Abdo began his permanent tenure by acknowledging the commission, the clubs and the players for keeping the game alive during the coronavirus outbreak.

“It is both daunting and exciting,” Abdo said. “Daunting because of the challenges that lay ahead of us but exciting because I love this sport. I think you have to think about what it is you can do for this game going forward and what has always motivated me is I have never shied away from a challenge.

“I’m a naturally competitive and ambitious person. I’m driven to succeed and I want our sport to be the best it can be. I have never shied away from a challenge.

“What has always motivated me has been to test myself against the best and rugby league is a significant part of Australia. If you were ambitious and wanted to succeed in any sport then this would be the role you’d want to test yourself against.

“We have to keep our eye on the ball on what is in front of us. We have to complete the season, we have to finish the season.”

Abdo confirmed the game was aiming to slash $40-50m from the game’s running costs next season. Some of the people who will be let go he no doubt counts among his friends.

He joined the NRL seven years ago as chief commercial officer and has been lauded for his work in growing the business to the point where revenue exceeded $500m last season.

The impact of Covid will mean revenue dips this season and job cuts are on the way as the game looks to ensure its survival along with that of the clubs.

“We are not going to sacrifice on the priorities of what is important for the game,” Abdo said.

“What we are looking at for 2021 is $40-50 million in permanent cost savings.”

Asked about his relationship with V’landys, Abdo said: “It is incredibly strong. I have learnt a lot from him in a short time.”

Abdo and V’landys were certainly on the same page when asked about the prospect of adding a second team in Brisbane amid talk that the AFL would use their grand final to steal some ground off their winter rival.

“Peter has always said we will look at expansion so far as it is feasible and grows value for the game,” Abdo said.

V’landys added: “We will be doing that at the end of the year. It might be a year away, two years away or three years away.

“I stress again that the business case has to stack up. We don’t do it on gut feeling. You have to have the data substantiating the case.”