Australian Rugby League Commission Chair John Grant has been "given a sliver of hope that he can save his job and bring some sanity back to the sport -- on the proviso he reinstates the funding deal that was abruptly taken off the table last week," according to Brent Read of THE AUSTRALIAN. Grant has been in communication with clubs spokesperson Bart Campbell as he looks to "reignite talks that fell apart in dramatic circumstances last week." The commission and the clubs announced on Wednesday that "they had postponed any proposed meetings to give both parties time to consider their options." The "ball is now back in the commission's court as they weigh up whether to perform a backflip and reinstate the previous deal," which would then become the "starting point" for future negotiations. There is "genuine optimism" on both sides that the parties can return to the table in coming days, although "even that is no guarantee that Grant can save his job at the helm of rugby league." Grant and Campbell are "likely" to conduct initial talks early next week before the Melbourne Storm chair reports back to his fellow clubs, the "potential precursor to them sitting down as a group with the commission to receive a briefing on the game's financial position" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 12/1).
LEAGUE PERIL: In Sydney, Dean Ritchie reported National Rugby League side Manly Chair Scott Penn has "revealed his family has tipped in" more than A$10M ($7.4M) "to the Sea Eagles but warned club owners will desert the NRL unless they can be certain on funding from head office." His family's "massive outlay" shows why club chairs are "desperately" fighting for the NRL funding package secured last December -- a deal which the NRL has now reneged on. Undeterred by the "big dollars he has already invested," Penn and other stakeholders want to outlay further cash to ensure Manly remains one of the NRL’s "glamour clubs." Penn said, "From a Sea Eagles perspective, we have opportunities with a center of excellence, with a Brookvale Oval upgrade, projects we are going to need to invest more and more money into. We need certainty of funding in order to do that. We had that. We made decisions in the past 12 months, in order to grow the business, based on this new money coming forward. That money is now in jeopardy" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 11/30).
