Rugby league tackles itself into a boardroom crisis

Rugby league’s governing body has been plunged into its latest round of self-inflicted chaos after its board was left with only its chief executive having not resigned.

The clubs have imposed former Rugby Football League chief executive Nigel Wood as the interim chair, and he will chair a strategic review as the sport once again goes in search of a magic money tree.

Rugby Football League chair Simon Johnson stood down last week, before a meeting of clubs that was expected to see him removed.

On Friday Dr Cherrie Daley and Julia Newton also resigned and will leave on Friday, while senior non-executive director Sandy Lindsay had offered her resignation in January although it was only announced in early March.

Simon Johnson

Johnson, who had been on the board for 10 years and chair for six, said: “I am very sad at this set of events. My colleagues were leaders of considerable integrity and the fact that they felt that they could not fulfil their fiduciary duties in the light of current developments, is very depressing.”

Lindsay added: “As often seems to be the case right now in the world, a small number of individuals are calling for risky and, in my opinion, unnecessary, change and it’s not something I wanted to be part of.

“I am sad about what’s happening in a sport that I love, and frustrated that the plans we had were beginning to see real change, on and off the field, but might now never be.”

The only continuing member of the RFL board is chief executive Tony Sutton.

Brian Carney, who fronts Sky Sports’ usually-uncritical coverage of the sport, voiced frustrations of Sutton on the channel, before Wood was brought back in.

He said: “There’s been, in my opinion, a distinct lack of communication from the leadership of this game. I haven’t heard from any significant figure to explain to people what exactly is going on.

“Has Tony Sutton spoken to anybody publicly? There’s silence. Leaders stand up.”

Wood, who stood down as chair of Bradford Bulls to take the RFL role, acknowledged the sport’s leadership needs to “communicate much better – with clubs and other key stakeholders, and most of all with fans”.

Nigel Wood

Wood said “it has been a successful and enjoyable start to the 2025 season”, which overlooks the evidence of a takeover crisis that has threatened the future of Salford Red Devils, as it has failed to pay staff on time and been prevented from fielding its first-team in some matches.

That resulted in a disastrous match on the showcase opening weekend of the season that saw St Helens beat Salford 82-0 in a match broadcast live on the BBC.

Wood highlighted how rugby union lost professional clubs in the post-pandemic period, with Wasps, Worcester Warriors and London Irish all going out of business, while rugby league has not, yet.

He said: “So far in Rugby League, our competitions have survived intact. But the message coming to me, and now through me, loud and clear from our club owners is that they continue to confront tough realities such as Covid loan repayments and recent changes to taxation thresholds. We can’t be complacent about our position – we need to act, with urgency.

“In a nutshell, what can we do to address those business fundamentals, of income generation and cost control – and what are the best central support services that give well-run clubs at least the prospect of breaking even?”

Wood is a divisive figure in the sport, having received a £300,000 payoff to leave the RFL in 2018 after the governing body recorded losses of £2m.