Dave Smith quits as NRL CEO

[Kimlo]

Well if he didn't "resign" then it's unfair to suggest he "bailed". He might've very well had a good plan set-up, but the dinosaurs on the board weren't happy that their mates at Fox weren't happy and got rid of him.

I simply don't think him no longer being in the role is justification for whether he was setting up a good or bad TV deal. We know the NRL has been run by dinosaurs for years and years now, and one CEO is never going to be able to fix all the rubbish behind the scenes.

We can judge on "results" but for one reason or another, he hasn't been allowed to complete the result, we can judge objectively based on things like membership, crowd numbers, competition policies, or we can judge subjectively by what we see and hear, which is mainly from the company that isn't happy with him.

Personally, I think he did some good things, but also wasn't the best, but to suggest he was a disaster or anything like that is a bit much, IMO. What I do agree with, is that he was probably out of his depth in a game with politics based largely on who knows who, with him being the new guy and also the boss.

The huge problem here is that Foxtel is partly owned by News Corp, and most RL news is from that exact company, so they paint whatever picture they want and can easily mount enough pressure to get any CEO fired if he's not a yes man.

 

[Mortician]

He was useless in plenty of aspects of the game, not just this farce of a TV rights deal that he's left for whoever to sort out..

I don't get how you can think like that. News Ltd were going to try and screw/lowball the NRL with a collaborative deal with channel 10, which they pretty much own , and try to freeze out any other option. Smith/ALRC got wind of it and struck up the biggest free to air deal ever with ch9 before it could be done. Now we have News Ltd losing the EPL, which is a fair chunk of subscribers, I can't see them risking losing the NRL as well which would be a massive hit on their bottom line.

The NRL taking a smaller deal from another interested party for a year or two would be the catalyst for News to come crawling back with cheque book open begging to have it again.

And as for Smith, he was the perfect person to have as CEO with no ties to all the bullshit politics that plagued our game. He was all about business and getting the best deal for us and that is what that position should be. Nothing to do with the rules of the game, nothing to do with off-field incidents or any of the other bullshit that the so called rugby league "journalists" tried to blame him for. He was an independent of the rats and filth which was a good thing.

 

[Foordy]

The cmail are reporting that Greenturd is favourite to get the role.

 

[Morkel]

The cmail are reporting that Greenturd is favourite to get the role.

**** right off. He's a greasy, smarmy, corrupt piece of shit. Makes perfect sense I guess.

 

[Nashy]

lol Fucking NRL.