Peter V’landys sets deadline for NRL-Super League deal as message sent to ‘smaller’ club owners

NRL supremo Peter V’landys has insisted any deal for investment into Super League must be completed within the next three months – or the opportunity for the British game will be ‘lost’.

Talks continued over the weekend about possible Australian investment into Super League, though no deal has yet to be finalised and nothing has even been put on the table for clubs in the northern hemisphere to consider.

V’landys, speaking to Triple M, insisted that when a deal is put forward, it will likely suggest that the NRL takes ‘total control’ of the game – a move which is unlikely to be popular with some clubs, given how they would lose their authority around major decisions.

But V’landys said that is the only way any deal would work – but appeared to suggest time is of the essence and if clubs don’t agree before the summer, the deal is off.

He said: “We’re prepared to do so, but if we did, we’d want to have total control because their corporate governance model is all clubs, and clubs all have self-interest.

“So you’ll never get good outcomes or decisions if the shareholders run the company. You’ve got to trust the board of directors.

“The way the NRL would do it is we would run the competition and they would benefit. We’ll invest heavily and we believe we can get a much better broadcast revenue.”

V’landys continued: “The way it is at the moment, it’s heading for a train crash if there’s not some new investment. It’s not going to be an easy road but if they love the game and they want to survive in England, this is their best opportunity.

“We have to do it in the next three months – if we can’t, they’re going to lose that opportunity.”

Intriguingly, V’landys appeared to suggest that the ‘big owners’ of Super League clubs are fully on board and want a deal with the NRL. But he stressed that the ‘littler’ owners are less keen – though he did not specifically name any clubs or owners individually.

He said: “The big owners, the smart ones, the good operators want us. It’s the littler ones that maybe won’t go with it.”