Half the clubs met in the office of a Sydney lawyer, while others joined by phone hook-up, symbolic of their division. Grant's email indicated he would delegate the ARLC's Tony McGrath, as head of audit, to work with the administration through the latest projected cash crisis, cleverly insulating himself from the criticism he acts to save himself, rather than the code.

As it transpired, the matter was quickly resolved, indicating Grant's communication problem is more with Todd Greenberg's administration than with the clubs.

The club chiefs, minus an agenda, then moved swiftly to another cause of concern: the $150 million the NRL has set aside for its digital rights strategy. The clubs have seen no detail on this, with many failing to understand the wisdom of allocating money to set up an NRL-produced streaming service, delivering games directly to their own subscribers.

They point to the federal government's anti-siphoning laws, which insist two or three games a week must be on free-to-air TV. But what competition will there be between channels Seven, Nine and Ten when the broadcasting deal expires at the end of 2022? Channel Ten is continuing to slide toward the abyss and Nine are reportedly baulking to stay with cricket after all this time.

ESPN in the US is laying off staff and losing subscribers. None of this is a surprise but the sharpness of the drop off in advertising revenue and some of the softness in the broadcast ratings (including in the NFL), appears to be more pronounced than anticipated. It is really starting to bite into the value of sports rights and the sustainability of broadcasters in an increasingly fragmented media environment.

Former NRL CEO Dave Smith is almost forgotten and much maligned, but his decision to go early (in 2015) to renew the NRL's broadcasting rights for the 2018 to 2022 period now looks like a very smart play.

Perhaps it was wrong to do the FTA deal first, but the early call may ultimately have made the game hundreds of millions more than it would have received had the deal been done now in a depressed market with softer ratings across all sports.

The current market for rights points to a possible correction for the period post 2022. This is something that the NRL and clubs must take into consideration in the ongoing CBA negotiations. The sport has been geared for some time to receiving much more money, increased player salaries (the salary cap was $3.8m in 2006 and has been projected to be over $9m in 2017), increased wages for coaches (and more of them) and more money for clubs. It would be a turbulent transition if the game was to have to adjust to a reduction in revenues for 2023 and beyond. This is particularly where some clubs are doing 10-year deals with players.

The optimistic clubs say that the rights buyer in 2023 could be a goliath like Apple, Amazon, Google or Netflix entering the market for sports rights. It's unlikely they will outlay the type of money domestic broadcasters have paid. Unlike Nine or Fox, Google and Amazon are massive global businesses and they will not pay overs to secure content in Australia. It's just not that important to a global giant in the same way as rugby league is important to Nine and Fox. This, together with the fragility of the current traditional broadcast market, supports the investment the NRL has committed to its own digital business.

FTA TV may well prove to have the successful tail that AM radio has wagged since the warnings of its death to FM radio. But if that is not the case, the NRL needs to have a seat at the table to potentially deliver content direct to its fans. The AFL led the charge on this several years ago and has invested heavily.

The NRL is a late mover but has time to position itself with some insurance before the next negotiation in the event Foxtel is the only significant bidder in the market.

Rugby league derives about 60 per cent of its revenue from traditional broadcasters, a significant risk for the sport. An investment of $30m a year for five years in a digital business is a small price to pay to ensure players and officials are not forced to take a material step backwards in wages and conditions in 2023.