Rugby league fans love their game, their heroes and their teams. Many know that the NRL is now managed by an independent 'Australian Rugby League Commission'. But while they regularly disagree with the commission's decisions, they have little idea how it operates and even why it was established. This book sets those contradictions straight.
As a lifetime fan, student of league history, lawyer and prominent administrator on the Australian Rugby League board that made the revolutionary decision to create the Commission in 2012 and NSW Rugby League CEO David Trodden is uniquely placed to describe the process that led to the game's new governance structure and to analyse its progress.
Once predominantly working-class, rugby league has become a sporting powerhouse, a producer of heroes from Dally Messenger to Johnathan Thurston, and survivor of courtroom battles, endless controversies and the Super League War. In charting this evolution, Trodden confronts a question now facing those in charge of all major professional sports: is our game a sport or a business, or something in between? The answer has huge implications, not just at the elite level but also for the 'grassroots'.
The Commission We Had To Have is essential reading for all NRL fans who are wondering what has happened to their game. Where would league be without its current structure? Where might it be heading? Can other sports learn from the rugby league experience?
