{"id":654952,"date":"2026-05-07T06:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/654952\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T06:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:34:10","slug":"ben-ikin-quits-as-qrl-ceo-perth-bears-three-weeks-out-from-state-of-origin-series-rugby-league-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/654952\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Ikin quits as QRL CEO, Perth Bears, three weeks out from State of Origin series, rugby league news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>QRL CEO Ben Ikin has resigned from his position in a move which has shocked the Maroons and the rugby league world.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ikin\u2019s decision has reportedly blindsided the Queensland Rugby League as they prepare for the opening game of the 2026 State of Origin series in just 20 days. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776909012_441_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ikin will remain at his post until the end of July. <\/p>\n<p>According to The Courier Mail, Ikin had been loosely linked to a position at the Perth Bears ahead of their inaugural season next year, but it appears that won\u2019t be the case, with Ikin deciding to walk away from the game altogether. <\/p>\n<p>A former host of NRL360, Ikin worked in football operations at the Broncos between 2021 and 2023 before leaving the club midway through 2023 season to take up the CEO role at the QRL. <\/p>\n<p>Ben Ikin during his time with the Broncos.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have thoroughly enjoyed my time working at the QRL,\u201d Ikin said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve met so many great people and created some incredible memories, I leave feeling very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ikin has been credited with leading a registration boom in Queensland with playing numbers increasing by 12 per cent over the last year as per Code Sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBen\u2019s leadership has placed the QRL in a very strong position in the sporting landscape and our on-going strategies and programs are well advanced,\u201d QRL Chair Brian Canavan added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QRL CEO Ben Ikin has resigned from his position in a move which has shocked the Maroons and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-654952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}