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.
2. Aaron Warburton
Unrelated to James Warburton, Aaron Warburton is the CEO of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Widely regarded to be extremely savvy regarding commercial partnerships, Warburton spent seven years climbing the commercial partnerships ranks at the Bulldogs before leaving the club in 2017 and returning in 2021 as CEO.
He has spearheaded revenue growth at the Bulldogs and also maximised the club's profit from their Las Vegas game.
He is tipped by many in the media to be the ideal candidate due to his commercial brilliance, but similarly to Solly and Donaghy, his ties to the Bulldogs may go against him due to the potential of bias towards certain clubs.
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.