Disgruntled club bosses are expected to begin canvassing support to challenge ARLC chairman John Grant if they remain unsatisfied with their share of a $50 million advance from the new broadcast deal with Channel Nine after a meeting next month.
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A sub-committee of Melbourne chairman Bart Campbell, his Sydney Roosters counterpart Nick Politis, Melbourne's Ray Dib, Manly's Scott Penn and Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle are due to report back to other club bosses on Friday about a meeting with Grant, fellow commissioner Tony McGrath and NRL head of club services Tony Crawford, at which they were offered less funding than had been previously been indicated.
Fairfax Media has been told that Grant is committed to spreading the $50 million across the game but clubs believe they should receive the majority of that money after incurring losses of more than $30 million between them this year. The clubs are seeking an increase of their annual participation grant so they receive $2.5 million more than the salary cap, which will rise next year to $6.8 million
However, the five-man delegation at Wednesday's meeting came away believing they have less chance of achieving that target under Grant than departing NRL chief executive Dave Smith, who had previously led the funding discussions.
The sub-committee, which also includes Brisbane chairman Dennis Watt, represents some of the NRL's biggest clubs in the Broncos, Bulldogs and Roosters, and the privately-owned Storm, Sea Eagles and Warriors.
Campbell and Penn have both invested money in their clubs as owners, while Politis has spent millions of dollars over the years supporting the Roosters.
Privately, some club bosses have been unhappy with Grant's leadership for some time and others who have been more supportive are also beginning to question his handling of the funding issue.
Removing Grant from the ARLC would be a difficult task, as the constitution requires 14 of the 26 members, which include the eight independent commissioners, voting for such a dramatic change. In order to do so, it is likely that 14 of the 16 clubs would have to agree or 13 plus the NSWRL as the QRL are believed to be supportive of Grant.
With Gold Coast and Newcastle under the control of the NRL and the governing body also having influence over the Wests Tigers board and St George Illawarra through financial assistance provided to the club, gaining the numbers for such a vote would seem extremely unlikely.
However, if even just half the clubs opposed Grant it would signal a massive vote of no confidence. All but the Titans, Knights, Tiger and Dragons have yet to sign new participation agreements to play in the NRL beyond 2017, but there is no suggestion of a Super League-type breakaway.
Should the clubs succeed in ousting Grant, they would have no say in choosing his replacement as any new member of the ARLC is selected by the remaining commissioners.
To change the constitution of the ARLC to give the clubs the ability to appoint commissioners, as proposed by some frustrated chairmen, would be even more difficult as it requires agreement by 17 of the other 18 commission members. Two of those members must be the NSWRL and QRL, along with 15 of the 16 NRL clubs.
