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.
1. Peter V'landys
Yes, you read that right, Peter V'landys himself could be the next CEO of the NRL.
As previously mentioned, V'landys will be the interim CEO following Abdo's departure on July 15, and despite being chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), it is not entirely impossible for him to formally hold both positions in what would be an executive chair-like role.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Barry O'Farrell, Nick Politis and Matt Tripp have all given V'landys their backing to take on this new role.
In order for that to occur, though, it would require a constitutional change which would need 16 of the 17 clubs to agree, as well as NSWRL and QRL.
If V'landys is serious about pursuing this further, he will need to deliver the $4 billion broadcast rights deal, but that number has taken a massive hit following the federal government's sweeping gambling advertising crackdown.
Regardless, V'landys spearheading both the NRL and ARLC is no longer an unlikely reality, and if he wants someone to run his own style of administration, who better than V'landys himself?
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.