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.
4. Dave Donaghy
Dave Donaghy is another club-level CEO that has a strong case to be the NRL's next boss.
Similarly to Blake Solly, Donaghy has 10 years of experience as a CEO, evenly spread across his time in charge of the Melbourne Storm followed by his current position at the Brisbane Broncos.
He knows the ins and outs of rugby league beyond the field, and has high-level strategy and management experience while at the Storm and also during his time at the Brisbane Lions.
Simply put, he is a proven and successful CEO who would be able to come in and make an instant impact.
However, seeing as he is a club CEO, like Solly, many believe that they won't get a look in because Peter V'landys apparently wants someone to run his type of administration, not their own.
While it is certainly a bold claim and may even be realistic, we cannot rule them out as candidates entirely.
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.