Rugby: Outsider in as League look for fresh ideas

The Rugby Football League are to appoint an outsider as their first executive chairman.

The all-powerful figure, who will combine the roles of chief executive and chairman, will be unveiled at a news conference in Manchester on Thursday.

The name of the new leader, who was chosen from a four-man shortlist, is a closely guarded secret but he is known to come from outside the game as the League look to bring in someone with fresh ideas.

The game has been without an effective leader since Neil Tunnicliffe resigned as chief executive almost two years ago and the new man will take over with the League £1.8m (€2.9m) in the red.

The executive chairman was chosen by the League’s implementation panel as part of the process of restructuring the game’s administration and reuniting Super League with the governing body.

He will head up a new board, comprising a business director and three non-executive directors.

‘‘The implementation committee is unanimous in its backing for the new man who will be taking up this role,’’ said panel member Gary Hetherington, the Leeds chief executive.

‘‘He has all the qualities that we think are necessary for the job and we are sure he will have a good media profile.’’

The old board has been virtually dismantled and Sir Rodney Walker, who has been RFL chairman since 1993, is to step down after the Challenge Cup final on April 27.

Meanwhile, the League say the £700,000 (€1,139,000) loss incurred from the 2000 World Cup will be wiped out by the end of the year following an agreement reached at last week’s Rugby League International Federation meeting in Sydney.

‘‘We have agreed in principle with our international partners proposals that will mean the eradication of the loss by the end off 2002,’’ said RFL operations director Nigel Wood, one of Britain’s two delegates in Sydney.

‘‘That was one of the major successes of the meeting.’’

The League are currently finalising details of the end-of-season tour by New Zealand, who are set to play four or five matches in addition to three Tests.