The Australian’s Australian of the Year: Peter V’landys, the racing supremo who kicked a huge goal

In a matter of months, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys became one of the most watched people in Australia.

NRL chair Peter V’landys. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In a matter of months, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys became one of the most watched people in Australia, as sporting fans waited with bated breath to see if he could save the NRL from the brink of disaster.

Now he is regarded as the man who not only navigated the NRL’s path through COVID-19 — while simultaneously keeping NSW racing at the top of its game.

“I feel good that we have gone from catastrophic to bearable,” Mr V’landys told The Australian in November. “We could have been financially destroyed, really. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year when we had cut out figures in the grandstand we would go to having 50,000 in the stands,” he said.

“We have gone from one extreme to the other.

There are stories in most of the international papers saying how the hell have they got 50,000 people during COVID … no one can believe it. It is a victory for the way governments have handled it.”

Mr V’landys secured victory for the clubs, who have emerged from the unorthodox season in remarkably strong positions.

He also supported the players, who effectively put their lives on hold while adhering to strict biosecurity protocols set out in Project Apollo, the NRL’s codename for its pandemic response.

With a May 28 deadline to resume play, Mr V’landys made clear his influence by working contacts across government and business to secure the season’s revival, which is why he is nominated for The Australian newspaper’s Australian of the Year award.

App users tap here to nominate your Australian of the Year

Mr V’landys describes 2020 as the most challenging year he has had in three decades of sports administration, as COVID-19 put a temporary stop to games, rendered competitions crowdless, made corporate boxes difficult to maintain and created tensions with television broadcasters.

He said he felt like “the weight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge lifting off me” when the last State of Origin was played in November.

“You will always get rewarded when. you put the effort in. The players and everyone put the effort in and they got rewarded. The game got rewarded,” he said.

“We (still) have a lot to do. We have certainly escaped a bullet but now we have to keep getting healthier. There is a lot to do – there is plenty to do.”

Appointed to the ARLC in 2018, Mr V’landys replaced Peter Beattie as chair last year following a two-year tenure as an independent director, and has proven himself to be a fearless leader.

Also chief executive of Racing NSW, Mr V’landys was instrumental in ensuring the state’s racing industry continued operating during the lockdown.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Thursday, January 21.