Andrew Abdo leaves NRL as a punchline for Peter V’landys
Was Andrew Abdo the crutch of Peter V’Landys, or his handbrake? NRL fans will soon find out, as the great tsar of rugby league takes full control of the sport just as it approaches its grandest test.Many will say the racing powerbroker has run rugby league since his ascension to chair of the ARLC in 2019. But that would be a disservice to the respected and often pitied Abdo, who has been repeatedly required to play the straight man to V’landys’ mix of bluster and comedy.That dynamic was on show for perhaps the last time on Monday afternoon at NRL HQ, when the odd-couple of administrators scrambled a press conference after the announcement leaked in the morning.“A very hard day for me personally today,” V’landys began, his jovial tone a forewarning of what was to come. “It’s with much disappointment that I announce that Andrew Abdo joined the One Nation party and is going there this afternoon. You all thought it was Tennis Australia, but it’s not.”More Heath Ledger’s Joker than stand up comedian, V’landys went on: “No, jokes aside, Andrew is leaving us to be the CEO of Tennis Australia.”Sport is entertainment, a fact V’landys seems to take seriously. “Anything you want to say, Andrew?”, he offered briefly before continuing. “He begged me not to say One Nation because he’s not a right-winger, he’s more a left-winger.”As he has done since assuming the role of chief executive in 2020, the professional Abdo played the straight bat. Or the percentage forehand to the middle of the court. Moving proceedings along briskly, he addressed the waiting media and reflected on what appeared to be an amiable executive departure. It was an “emotional day”. Rugby league was “part of my DNA”.He exuded optimism for the sport he is leaving: “The exciting part is – and I really believe this in all aspects – rugby league is only just getting started on its growth potential.”Therein lies the contradiction. Why would Andrew Abdo, veteran chief executive of a code that is close to the summit of Australian sport, choose to leave? And why would he decide now, as generational levers – of expansion, broadcast, bargaining and the breakthrough of the women’s game – just come into reach?V’landys is usually a propagandist when speaking of his sporting adversaries. Around Abdo’s departure, suddenly he was a diplomat about the top job in tennis. “It’s a position that any sport administrator would aspire to,” he said. “It’s an international competition. He gets to travel to Wimbledon, New York, where else is it, Paris? I mean, I can offer him Manly and Papua New Guinea.”This appeared to be a joke at the expense of the Chiefs, the NRL’s 2028 expansion side. V’landys continued: “But anyway, so any sporting administrator would not give up a position that is offered to him like Tennis Australia because it’s the ultimate in a sporting administrator’s career.”Fans have been told to think big when it comes to rugby league. Of breaking through to the US market though the Las Vegas beachhead. Of pushing not only into PNG, but to Perth, and next to New Zealand (or back to Queensland). Of an imminent broadcast bonanza that would blow away the AFL’s seven-year, $4.5bn deal signed in 2022.Here, though, was one of the architects of rugby league’s upward trajectory jumping ship. “In professional sport, there are not many opportunities to take leadership positions,” said Abdo, already chief executive officer of the the second largest sport in Australia, if you missed it earlier.“This is an opportunity for me to now push myself and learn and grow and develop and challenge myself in a different environment, in a different sport. We’ve got to keep learning and keep growing and this was a limited window and one that held appeal for me.”That may be the case, but it is also an escape from an uncomfortable room. Abdo walks out the door of Rugby League Central at Moore Park in 50 days. Before then, V’landys has declared his intention for the NRL to sign a new TV deal. “Everything’s perfect for us to get the best broadcast deal ever, but as I’ve said all along, it’s not about the money,” he said, setting out the parameters for Abdo’s final act: more cash for the NRL, but with a lower outlay for fans.Such an outcome might mean increased investment by free-to-air networks in an environment of declining revenues and imminent gambling ad reform. Or a miracle. V’landys did, after all, say that Abdo’s replacement would need to be “Superman and Jesus added together”.Whether the deal is signed before Abdo leaves or not, the executive’s departure hands rugby league’s front man – love him or laugh at him – with unfettered administrative power. V’landys has pencilled in four months’ long-service leave from his job as chief executive of Racing NSW, allowing him to step into Abdo’s former role for much of the year. He could continue there with the support of the clubs.At the top of rugby league, now two becomes one. “That’s one thing I admire about Andrew,” V’landys said in his most telling quip. “He’s had to put up with me for six years. I can’t put up with myself most of the time.”
