Andrew Abdo's shock departure to Tennis Australia has left the rugby league community scratching their heads wondering who will be the next CEO.
With his departure set for July 15, that gives Peter V'landys and the NRL approximately six weeks to find a suitable replacement, which will be an extremely difficult task.
It has been confirmed, though, that V'landys himself will act as the interim CEO if a replacement cannot be found in that time.
"We're going to need Superman and Jesus together," V'landys put it bluntly.
While that may be slightly out of reach, the NRL is going to need a candidate who has extensive knowledge about broadcast deals, club relations and the political intricacies of leading a soon-to-be 19 and most likely 20-club competition.
When considering these conditions, it leaves the following eight candidates who could realistically replace Andrew Abdo.
5. James Warburton
Maybe Peter V'landys wants to go in a completely different direction and if so, James Warburton could be a strong contender.
A rollercoaster career of sorts, Warburton has served as the CEO of Network 10 (Channel 10), Seven West Media (Channel 7) and Supercars on two occasions.
Interestingly enough, in April this year, Warburton resigned from his second stint as CEO of Supercars after less than a year in the position, citing an untenable standoff and line-in-the-sand differences between the board and himself.
He has extensive experience in media administration and he has experience in a sporting code, if you consider Supercars a sport.
Generally speaking, those are believed to be the two main qualities V'landys is looking for and Warburton is firmly in the conversation according to some publications.
I don’t like one person filling both the Chair and CEO roles.
I think it is poor governance.
I agree with your assessment that a former NRL Club boss will not get the job. No matter how honest and impartial he is in his decision making, half the fans and all 17 of the other club bosses will believe that he has his thumb on the scales, making sure his old club is never disadvantaged by whatever decisions or policies he makes.