Rugby League European Federation chairman Maurice Watkins has paid tribute to Nigel Wood’s work in the international arena.
Wood will retire from his position as chief executive of the International Rugby League at the end of the year after 18 years of being involved in the international scene.
Watkins said: “Nigel has played a significant role in the development of the RLEF.
“Along with Richard Lewis, he was a founding father of the European Federation in 2003 and, as a leading figure at the Rugby Football League initially, he provided strong support for the re-establishment of the European Championships, which have run since.
“As RFL chief executive, he continued to allocate additional human and financial resource which helped us to grow our organisation and make it a more a robust one.
“He aided broadening the Tri-Nations to Four, which enabled Wales, France and Scotland to compete against the best, and was instrumental in gaining two World Cups for the continent.
“We wish him the very best in his next ventures and thank him for his continued commitment and efforts to expand the footprint of rugby league throughout Europe and the northern hemisphere.”
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We’ve done nothing but go backwards since 1995 internationally. Any advancement internationally has been driven by the Australians. Here we fall over supine to the wants of the RFU. Hopefully now he’s going we can give the job for expansion to the Australians and let them get involved, bring passion, and arrogance to the table.