A historic step is reportedly being proposed to all NRL clubs as the ARL Commission continues negotiating club licensing agreements.
The step would come in the form of an agreement that all NRL clubs must include at least one female member on their boards.
The Daily Telegraph revealed this in a report and added that the stipulation would be added to the agreement under the term “minimum standards”.
Every club's license expires after next season, and this is just another potential issue in what have been intense and complicated negotiations with both the players and clubs, as there's a chance not everyone will agree.
But the main issue remains funding, and should the clubs get their desired financing, they will surely be much more agreeable with the new rules that come with the cash.
Recent comments from NRL CEO Andrew Abdo have suggested that an agreement may be close after the clubs agreed to take less money to keep the game sustainable.
But negotiations remain ongoing, and a timeframe of completion remains unclear.
What is clear is ARL chairman Peter V'landys commitment to women in Rugby League; as he commented earlier this year at a function for Women in League round, he wants to make NRLW Australia's premier women's sporting league.
“Rugby league brings us all together, the ambition for the ARLC is to have rugby league as the number one female sport in Australia,” V'landys said.
“We want to grow the women's game and make it equal to the men's game.”
With ambition like that, it's easy to see why he'd like to see NRL boards become more gender diverse, it just remains to be seen if this new proposal will be implemented.
