Currently in the UK for talks with RFL and Super League powerbrokers, Peter V’landys has spoken with BBC Sport about the NRL’s hopes to invest in the English Super League.
The ARLC boss also used his interview to issue a grim outlook for the game in England should that not be allowed to happen.
“We’re not here to force ourselves on anyone, we’re here to listen and hopefully be able to assist,” V’landys told BBS Sport editor Dan Roan.
“It’s an option if that’s what they (Super League) want us to do, but there has to be structural corporate governance change for that to happen.”
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V’landys wasn’t prepared to be drawn on the size of the stake the NRL was eyeing, rather focusing on the way the game would be run.
“For us it’s not so much the stake, it’s the corporate governance structure, making sure that all decisions are made in the best interests of the game as a whole,” he said.
“You need an independent body to operate the competition, that’s one of the reasons Australia has been so successful.”
“They (Super League) haven’t got the structure right at the moment to be able to take the product forward.”
‘Eventually people will stop wanting to sustain losses’
At the heart of V’landys Super League sales pitch is delivering a more financially viable platform from which the English game can grow, anchored by broadcast revenue.
“You have to have a strong financial base, and at the moment that’s not there,” he said.
“How long can some of these owners sustain losses?”
When asked what would happen to the Super League if an agreement couldn’t, V’landys issued a blunt prediction.
“I’d be concerned, I can see a train crash if they don’t get the broadcast revenue they need to sustain a 14-team competition, because eventually people will stop wanting to sustain losses, and that’s what they’re going to be doing,” he said.
V’landys also ruled out any prospect of setting up a rival NRL-led European league.
“No, for us it’s philosophical, if you’re going to have global game you need England to be as strong as possible, we don’t want to see them wilt,” he explained.
“The only interest we have in being here is we want England to be strong.”