He might want to be still at the helm of the ARL Commission in five years, but competing forces believe he will be lucky to last another five days. Maybe the loose lips were to blame.

As the still seething club bosses closed in on taking his scalp – a letter carrying the signatures of the NSWRL and all 16 clubs, bar the NRL-owned Gold Coast, asking for his removal was delivered moments before his circle-the-wagons press conference on Friday – Grant didn't budge.

But how exactly did he bring so many people together, relishing the chance to pack down in a scrum with him?

Simply, it can be traced back to the last December memorandum of understanding that club grants would be topped at 130 per cent of the yet-to-be-determined salary cap for 2018, suddenly being swept off the table on Wednesday.

The statement did two things: not only tie the ARLC into a figure which would be a moveable feast and one they could not be certain of given the sensitive Collective Bargaining Agreement talks, but suddenly gave the clubs the impetus to align with the Rugby League Players Association, a relationship best described as uneasy previously.

Sensing their bottom line would now be directly linked to the fortunes of the players' union in the CBA to-and-fro, clubland suddenly found an ally and started talking with the RLPA. And the pressure on Grant morphed into something else.

While clubs will curse an apparent glacial-like speed in CBA negotiations leaving a transfer market in a state of flux – they will wait as long as it takes if the result is right for them.

Round one will have come and gone on the 2017 season and there is still likely to be no salary cap for 2018. The RLPA has every right to get it right – and they stress there is so much more than just the much-hyped magic cap number.

Funding models aside, the numbers are stacked against Grant whichever way he looks.

Only 14 of the 26 votes – made up of the clubs, two state associations and the eight commissioners – are needed to push for the removal of a director. The clubs have the numbers – and formally informed the commission so on Friday.

Changing the constitution – set to be reviewed by Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates – is trickier. But the clubs' campaign will remain, hellbent on gaining representation on a commission they think has lost the confidence of the major stakeholders.

David Gyngell could be waiting in the wings. Fairfax Media understands people within the game have spoken to Gyngell about a possible role with the commission, but no official approach has yet been made from the commission itself.

It is believed Gyngell, whose in-demand business nous was snapped up by the RLPA on an advisory board, has not ruled out an interest in a role with the commission in the future.

It would be considered a coup for the game to have the former Nine Network boss, who negotiated the biggest free-to-air TV deal in rugby league history, as part of the commission given his wealth of commercial experience. He will get all sides of the argument.

Grant might have an admirable whole-of-game approach at heart, but you can't take your eyes off the road in rugby league. You never know who will be in front – or behind – waiting to pounce.