Peter V’landys plays the game like nobody else in sports administration.
In fact, V’landys is usually two or three steps ahead by the time you realise you’re even playing.
I have no doubt that he himself started the rumour last weekend that King Charles was considering coming to Randwick races for Everest day, and to watch a support race named in his honour.
And back in 2020, when the world was shutting down as a result of the pandemic, he bullishly declared the NRL would return on May 28 that year.
Politicians, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, were shocked.
Fellow sporting codes would make no such commitment.
And yet nobody was brave enough to suggest V’landys couldn’t pull it off and so on May 28, rugby league returned – albeit behind closed doors.
Like him or loathe him, V’landys is the best in the business.
He has breathed new life into racing in New South Wales, with a new generation flocking to race days and the sport somehow becoming more popular than ever in an age where you would think cancel culture and modern thinking may have just caught up with it.
As for rugby league, it’s flying. It has somehow come out of a pandemic that could have killed it in better shape than ever; with record ratings and sensational crowds leaving it as arguably the most watched sport in the country.
When V’landys wants something done, it usually happens.
So why then don’t we have a long-term deal for the NRL Grand Final?
Why is V’landys still playing the game; suggesting a Super Bowl style concept where the match is sold to the highest bidder could be an option.
The MCG has been spoken about, as has Brisbane; and there’s no doubt the Queensland Government would love to swoop on the decider.
I don’t realistically believe there’s any chance the Grand Final will be moved from Sydney, so why are we stuck doing year-on-year deals?
Is it that Premier Chris Minns doesn’t realise he’s playing the game yet?
Minns may argue there are greater priorities than locking in a long-term deal for the Grand Final, and nobody is denying there’s plenty on his plate.
But Minns can simply not be the Premier that lets the biggest sporting code in his state take its marquee match out of Sydney.
And V’landys is just crazy enough to take it to Melbourne or Brisbane if he doesn’t feel he’s getting a good deal out of the NSW Government.
Accor Stadium is the logical long-term home of the Grand Final.
Sydney has proven it supports the event, along with interstate visitors, with crowds in excess of 80,000 every year.
Any suggestion that this year’s game not selling out would have an impact on decisions around the Grand Final’s future is foolish.
Apart from the variety of circumstances surrounding the slightly lower demand for the game, no Brisbane venue could hold the 80,156 who did turn up.
Minns and V’landys must sit down and lock in a 20-year deal for the Grand Final.
Just get it done.
Rugby league fans are sick of the back-and-forth that goes on every year and the pointless articles about the game potentially going elsewhere, before a late deal is done and the game ends up at Accor Stadium anyway.
The venue operators, sponsors, corporate partners, surrounding venues and fans deserve to have certainty that one of the biggest sporting events in the country will remain at Sydney Olympic Park.
The State Government may think this one is going under the radar but there’s a growing feeling that their inability to get this done is a sign of weakness.
V’landys, meantime, is holding all the aces. And the more you let him play the game, the more you’ll have to pay to make yourself look like you at least competed.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.