South Sydney club chairman Nick Pappas believes all clubs should soon be profitable under the NRL's "revolutionary" new funding model for the game and those who aren't aren't may not deserve to be in the premiership.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pappas and Warriors chairman Bill Wavish praised the new funding model outlined to Fairfax Media by NRL chief executive Dave Smith and said it would deliver certainty to all clubs for the next three years.
"It is revolutionary and my view is that if clubs don't perform with this level of funding they really shouldn't be around," Pappas said. "There is no more excuses, no more infighting, no more board squabbles. Every club should be able to move into profit mode with this promise of funding within the cycle of the plan."
Under the changes, which will come into effect from November 1, each club will receive a "participation payment" of $7.55 million, which will rise by $270,000 per year in accordance with the salary cap.
There are also incentives for clubs to meet specific revenue targets and an "at risk" component of up to $1 million for those who fail to fulfil minimum standards.
"This is the biggest step forward for the game as there has ever been, at least in its more modern history," Pappas said. "It is a two-way street, you get funding but you have got to participate and participate to certain standards.
"That is something we have been clamouring for at the Rabbitohs for some time, which is setting standards across the clubs in areas of governance and financial reporting and compliance and moving across into football areas like medical standards, reporting and guidelines.
"We think it is great because it is only when you incentivise this way and put a bit of a sting in the tail that you are going to get performance because some of the clubs are so embedded to the leagues club model that they just cannot get out of that mindset."
While details are yet to be finalised, Wavish said clubs now had greater certainty about levels of funding than ever before.
"It has been a long time coming and thankfully we have got a lot more clarity than we have ever had in the past," Waivish said.
"It has a few carrots and few sticks, not huge ones but enough to get your attention to reward desirable behaviour and penalise inappropriate behaviour or failure [in] certain things.
"It sets the ground for discussions between the NRL, the clubs and the players to not be so much about sharing the pie but growing the pie."
Wavish also praised the NRL insistence on "total transparency" of the funding for each club.
"If there is a reward for somebody and how it is calculated will be there for all to see," he said. "I know from my experience in basketball when clubs have got into trouble the league tended to be secretive and it caused distrust so it is the right way to go. I would like to think this is the beginning of more transparency with everybody in the game."