Championship chairman takes aim at ‘dysfunctional’ RFL departees as Nigel Wood hailed

Batley Bulldogs chairman Kevin Nicholas has blasted the outgoing RFL board, while hailing the returning Nigel Wood, in a lengthy statement which pulls no punches.

Nicholas, who has been involved with Batley for close to 30 years, was at the forefront of the movement to oust Simon Johnson from his role as RFL Chair.

He and Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont tabled a proposal for Johnson’s removal and Wood’s subsequent return as interim chair of the governing body.

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Championship chairman takes aim at ‘dysfunctional’ RFL departees as Nigel Wood hailed

With Wood’s return and a new interim board confirmed last week, Nicholas has now explained his part in the process, and the reasoning behind his drive for change.

Posted on Batley’s club website, Nicholas’ statement begins: “As people may be aware I was asked by some Chairmen of Super League clubs my views on the present RFL board and, regrettably, they were negative. After speaking to some other Chairmen in the Championship, it was clear my views were shared. I agreed to join them as a group to seek change.

“I was then asked my views on Nigel Wood returning to assist in a review of  the whole sport to then report back at the July council meeting of clubs. I was immediately supportive without any reservation whatsoever. He is an out and out rugby league fanatic to start with.

“He has knowledge of the sport inside and out as a supporter, an administrator of the whole game and as a club owner. He also played rugby League at amateur level, so has been involved in every single area of the sport. He is an honest man of integrity and has intelligence to back it up. Those were my reasons for supporting his involvement.

“The Super League people tasked with dealing with issues over the last few weeks, namely Derek Beaumont and Gary Hetherington, are of the same ilk.

“What Derek has achieved recently at Leigh is phenomenal and a breath of fresh air to the sport. Gary’s contribution to Leeds and the sport generally over many years is unparalleled. These are good people that the sport can trust as wanting the very best for rugby league.

“I agreed to second the resolutions of Derek without hesitation, and then the overwhelming majority of clubs supported the resolutions such that they were passed.

“I thought that was the end of it and the review would commence with everyone recognising the will of the members and shareholders of our sport.”

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‘It was a dysfunctional board that complied with a governance code but didn’t govern’

Prior to the RFL’s new interim board being announced, Johnson resigned as chair, Sandy Lindsay as the senior non-executive director, and of Dr Cherrie Daley and Julia Newton as non-executive directors.

Taking aim at those people, Nicholas continued: ““(I thought) thoroughbred rugby league people would be involved in contrast to the career directors previously, who may be good at attending monthly meetings and accepting their five-figure cheques, but are hardly committed to improving the sport.

“I previously raised with Simon Johnson how many of the directors attended the Championship Grand Final, the two Test matches, Super League Grand Final and the Challenge Cup Final. I was told supplying that information required too much work.

“Well if making three phone calls to colleagues is too much work, I would like to know what is enough work for him. I know the answer to how many directors attended the Championship Grand Final, because it is none.

“One of them may have attended one Test match, but I don’t know how many went to Wembley for their excellent pre-match meal and comfy seat in the Royal Box, neither do I know how many enjoyed similar hospitality at Old Trafford.

“I never asked the question (but I can guess the answer), how many clubs they had visited or how many matches they had been to in order to judge their love for the sport or enhance their knowledge of how the clubs function.

“It was a dysfunctional board that complied with a governance code but didn’t govern who have now jumped ship to no doubt find a financially rewarding directorship elsewhere.

“So now we have to try to reboot and move on as quickly as possible, yet over the last few weeks I have witnessed an attempt to frustrate this process at every step by people who are then going to walk away in the sunset.

“We know we have to be compliant with a governance code as soon as possible, and that will happen, but non-compliance for a matter of weeks due to people leaving en-masse is hardly an unmanageable problem unless you are incapable of managing problems, which was in fact the case.”

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‘The next few weeks will be testing for all, but hopefully we come through it and get the review started as a matter of urgency’

Wood is one of three executive members appointed on the RFL’s new interim board.

Ex-Super League match official James Child is one of five none-executive members, along with Emma Rosewarne, who Nicholas has singled out for some praise.

His statement concludes: “So, the ex-directors as of last Friday have appointed a larger board where the only new director proposed by the club representatives, apart from Nigel Wood, is Emma Rosewarne.

“She is an absolute perfect fit and again is a rugby league enthusiast who was quite simply best in class when she was the administrator of the game before she had a gang of board members to supposedly assist.

“She is a person of utmost integrity who will bring a calmness and efficiency to the whole process over the next few months if allowed to do so.

“It is unfair to in any way criticise the other people that the now absent directors have sort to appoint, but it is not unfair to criticise the process followed against the resolutions passed by the shareholders.

“The next few weeks will be testing for all, but hopefully we come through it and get the review started as a matter of urgency.”

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