After weeks of speculation and frustration aimed at Todd Greenberg, he has mutually agreed to stand down as the NRL's CEO.
COMMENT:
One day, in the not too distant future, students around Australia and New Zealand might be studying the NRL's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It could become one of those case studies, used in marketing and business classes, and maybe even on MBA courses.
Unfortunately it won't be pretty.
Such "learning from mistakes" scenarios often include the launch of "New Coke" in 1985, Kodak's failure to anticipate the digital revolution and Nokia's fall from grace in the mobile sector.
All those episodes were unique but had common threads: muddled leadership, poor internal and external communication and an inability to see the big picture.
The NRL's bungled handling of its competition restart, while not on the same scale as the stories above, has some similar themes.
Tomorrow will mark five weeks since the competition was suspended, after round two, played in empty stadiums.
In that time, the NRL have lost chief executive Todd Greenberg to an ugly resignation, seemingly lost any semblance of a close working relationship with Channel Nine and Foxtel, lost the trust of the players over revelations about non-payments into welfare funds, and on several other occasions, lost their way.
Former NRL CEO Todd Greenburg addresses the media. Photo / Photosport
There has to be some sympathy.
The NRL are dealing with an unprecedented situation that was impossible to predict and the precarious financial state of many clubs has added a level of desperation not present for other sporting codes.
But their handling of it all has been very poor. The Channel Nine scenario was impossible to understand, as the broadcaster was seemingly left out of planning for a revised competition, until they kicked up a fuss.
It's like negotiating in earnest to buy a house — and even talking to builders and architects about renovation plans — when you haven't even discussed a mortgage with the bank.
Being so bullish about return dates, particularly the May 28 idea, has also been foolhardy. It just puts extra pressure on all stakeholders, and seems to forget the Australian Government will have the final say.
The handling of the Warriors situation has also been far from professional. Rather than being treated like a special case, with all the extra logistical requirements on the Auckland club, it felt like they were low priority as they operated in an information vacuum for several critical days.
At the lowest point, chief executive Cameron George told the Herald he was facing a barrage of questions from players, staff and families and "sitting here like a cardboard cut-out".
Even Sky Sport haven't been in the loop as much as expected, given the significant league audience on this side of the Tasman.
The Warriors have had cause for complaint over the NRL's handling of their situation. Photo / Photosport
The NRL has two main courses of action now.
Work with Channel Nine and Foxtel to find out their wish list for the rest of 2020. That becomes the template to take to clubs and stakeholders, not the other way round.
And engage with the politicians behind the scenes, rather than make big public statements about "getting footy back, mate".
Footy needs to return as soon as possible but there are more pressing priorities for the governments on both sides of the Tasman.
