ARLC Chair Grant Says Doping Scandal No Longer Concern For National Rugby League

Australian Rugby League Commission Chair John Grant "has made the astonishing claim that the 'pall' of the peptide doping scandal that has rocked rugby league is no longer a concern" for National Rugby League clubs, according to Andrew Webster of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Grant said that "he was comfortable with how the allegations were being handled." There "is deep anger residing within officials, coaches and players about the damage" that has been done to their reputations, yet Grant believes that has now subsided. Grant said, "There's no doubt that there is a general feeling in some quarters that this has cast a pall over the whole game, and that's not what we're dealing with now -- I think that's passed. Financially, Grant said that "the game had never looked in better shape" following last year's A$1.2B media rights deal. He said, "We've got A$43M ($44M) in the bank. We had about A$8M when we came on board a year ago." The commission forecast it would make A$284M in revenue this year, with A$323M by the end of '17 (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2/22).