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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Wests Tigers chairman and former NSW premier Barry O\u2019Farrell has endorsed Peter V\u2019landys becoming rugby league\u2019s executive chairman as the future of the influential administrator grips two sports.<\/p>\n V\u2019landys, the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission and chief executive of Racing NSW, will take long-service leave from his day job for four months from July to cover for departing NRL CEO Andrew Abdo.<\/a><\/p>\n A highly unusual situation approved by the state government-appointed Racing NSW board, V\u2019landys\u2019 move has heightened expectations of him making a full-time switch from racing to rugby league in a newly established post in which he would have absolute power.<\/a><\/p>\n In practice V\u2019landys already functions as an executive chairman but for it to be formalised – and for him to be paid an executive salary as well as heading the board – would require a change to the ARL Commission constitution.<\/p>\n Much hinges on the outcome of negotiations for the NRL\u2019s new broadcast deal<\/a> but if V\u2019landys can deliver the $4 billion rights windfall he has set his sights on, it would give him a strong bargaining chip.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it\u2019s a decision for the independent NRL commissioners to determine, I think appointing Peter V\u2019landys as executive chair makes a lot of sense and could only further enhance the game,\u201d O\u2019Farrell said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s shown as chair a remarkable ability to broaden the game\u2019s reach and clubs have certainly benefited from increased revenues flowing from decisions V\u2019landys has driven.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Farrell is a former chief executive of Racing Australia, which Racing NSW has a 35 per cent stake in.<\/p>\n Sydney Roosters\u2019 billionaire chairman Nick Politis also welcomed V\u2019landys\u2019 greater involvement in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Politis said. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t be better for the game. After what he\u2019s done, he deserves to be there for life.\u201d<\/p>\n Melbourne Storm co-owner and chairman Matt Tripp has also supported V\u2019landys being made executive chair while another NRL club boss said they would also back it.<\/p>\n Several other club figures raised governance concerns about someone holding such dual roles even though V\u2019landys had overseen an era of unprecedented success for the code, saying it would require serious consideration.<\/p>\n As well as 16 of the 17 clubs, V\u2019landys would have to get the NSW Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League over the line. They were at odds with him over funding two years ago in a dispute that reached the NSW Supreme Court and the NSWRL sued the ARL Commission in 2022 during a separate row about board elections in which their management of the Blues State of Origin team was threatened.<\/a><\/p>\n Relations have picked up from that point, but it\u2019s yet to be seen how the states would view V\u2019landys being both chairman and effectively chief executive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t even discussed it as a board yet,\u201d QRL chairman Brian Canavan said. \u201cThe constitution directs the process.\u201d<\/p>\n NSWRL chair Carolyn Campbell was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n There are also major implications for the multi-billion dollar racing industry in V\u2019landys taking long-service leave to fill in for Abdo who will remain at the NRL until July 15 before becoming the chief executive of Tennis Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cMr V\u2019landys has made this application so he is not spending more time on the Australian Rugby League Commission while performing his chief executive duties at Racing NSW,\u201d Racing NSW chair Saranne Cooke said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving carefully considered Mr V\u2019landys\u2019 application, the Racing NSW board unanimously supported the professional approach that Mr V\u2019landys has taken.\u201d<\/p>\n V\u2019landys hopes to have the new broadcast deal completed by the time Abdo packs up his desk and while he has said he would consider his future in racing at the end of the year, the increasing belief is this will be the last of his 23 years running the industry.<\/p>\n His long-time deputy at Racing NSW, Graeme Hinton, said on Tuesday he would want the job if it became available.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in my job for quite a long time and I\u2019ve certainly done a good apprenticeship,\u201d Hinton told SEN radio.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an industry I care deeply about. I\u2019ve grown up around racing and followed it and been a punter and an owner. Once it\u2019s in your blood it\u2019s hard to shake.\u201d<\/p>\n Hinton will take the reins when V\u2019landys is on leave – a period that includes the flagship Everest spring carnival – providing a runway for him to be elevated as permanent chief exeutive.<\/p>\n Related Article The chess pieces are falling into place with Racing NSW\u2019s powers under government-commissioned review by former state health minister Brad Hazzard and as its feud with the Australian Turf Club<\/a> returns to court on Thursday.<\/p>\n V\u2019landys has also been in negotiations with Tabcorp chief and former AFL supremo Gillon McLachlan over the betting company\u2019s pursuit of a new national totaliser pool.<\/p>\n The Racing Reform Group, whose steering committee includes prominent racehorse breeders, said in a statement V\u2019landys taking long-service leave to run the NRL \u201craises further serious questions about the governance of Racing NSW\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is highly unusual for a CEO to take leave to act as an interim CEO at another competing organisation, so we question why Saranne Cooke and the rest of the board of Racing NSW approved it,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/483f96293f8c4bbaf98914b89cdc6779785a4ba9.jpeg\")
Peter V\u2019landys has been chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission since 2019.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779739814_436_616c4faff774cd53abacaef910ff75a243eb54d83a78bfdbe271e5f1ba1f0f91.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769322851_66_ee71cb37d4c9fcd432bc0a75a0130cfa154694ad.png\")
Chris Barrett<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-695389","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\/695389","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=695389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}