National Rugby League club bosses "set a deadline of 10am" Tuesday for "their funding requests to be met," according to Margie McDonald of THE AUSTRALIAN. Otherwise, they will "pull the trigger on John Grant’s five-year tenure" as Australian Rugby League Commission chair. Several club chairs said that "a revised agreement drawn up by the clubs was sent to the NRL" on Monday night. The clubs "want a response half an hour before" a scheduled 10:30am extraordinary general meeting which was called to "decide on Grant's leadership." The clubs have "stood firm on three principles as part of new funding arrangements" from '18 onward. The clubs wanted the promised 130% of the '18 salary cap, originally made 12 months ago, to be reinstated. They also wanted "constitutional change so that at least two representatives from the clubs would sit on the eight-member ARL Commission." Thirdly, they wanted ARLC Chair Grant "to step down" in Nov. '17 (THE AUSTRALIAN, 12/20). In Sydney, Adam Pengilly reported "marathon talks between NRL club bosses" on Monday "stretched into the night." The ARLC's revised proposal "falls slightly shy" of the previous Memorandum of Understanding and commitment pledge, but "the gap between the warring parties has narrowed." In an effort to avoid an "ugly ousting" of the game's top official, "there is even hope Grant's skin can be saved on the morning of his predicted demise," which would cap "a dramatic month of bickering between the clubs and head office." The EGM has been a month in the making and club "powerbrokers have been united in their belief" the ARLC needed to put the previous MOU back on the table "to avoid Grant facing the axe" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 12/19).
