I don't mind Rusty, we need more rich high-profile people pouring their money, resource and pulling power into the game.
He loves his Rabbits, he loves them at home, he loves them overseas, he loves them on the Jay Leno Show. That can only be a good thing.
The rest of it, the arrogance etc., well that just comes with the territory. I've never met Uncle Harry but I understand he's not the world's most loved property developer either.
No, we need the game and clubs to be self sustainable, not be directed by egomaniacs with deep pockets.
Nathan Tinkler did not quite work out so well for the knights.
I disagree - we currently haven't the funding to maintain 16 self-sustained profitable clubs and we never have. The high-value TV deals are not permanent. What happens in 4-5 years from now if the next TV deal is reduced, what happens to the cap and the wages and the spending expectations if the NRL can no longer cover $10M per club?
I also honestly think you misunderstand the already existing private ownership landscape of the NRL. Eric Watson owned the Warriors for 17 years (until just recently), the Penn family own most of Manly, Rebecca Frizelle now owns the Titans. Russell Crowe does not have complete control of Souths, he is part-backed by James Packer and ceded 25% control of Souths to the membership, including jersey, colours, home ground etc. Rusty actually owns less of Souths than the Penns do of Manly.
No, Nathan Tinkler didn't work out, but that doesn't mean private ownership is synonymous with business failure.
It's also not as if non-individual ownership is a template for success either, given how many current clubs have fallen over and needed NRL intervention, despite being backed by Leagues clubs or business groups, rather than deep-pocketed owners - Gold Coast, Balmain, St George; all the clubs that were destroyed in the Super League era, Newtown.
My opinion is that clubs often run at a loss because it's such a competitive landscape, and in Australia it's not just other clubs in the NRL, it's a wide variety of other codes. When you have businesses funding the clubs, those businesses generally exist for two reasons - solely to fund the club (e.g. Football Clubs) or to make a profit from the clubs. If the profit wanes, the business tend to want move away because it's not necessarily a passion-project. Businesses typically abandon loss-making ventures unless it's in their mandate to continue funding.
Many of the traditional supporters of NRL clubs have been leagues clubs, who relied heavily on gambling revenues and have been significantly impacted by the pokies tax. This is changing, however it still means that rugby league is heavily funded at all levels, including top-tier sponsorship, by gambling monies - which is hardly an ideal moral position to be in.
But private owners, most of them do it for the passion rather than the profit, so they are likely to tip in more money and not just withdraw because the clubs lose money. Yes sometimes their business empires can fail, but so can any other business.
The English Premier League is almost entirely privately owned, as is the NFL. Doesn't mean it's a perfect system, but lots of owners with deep pockets makes for a very well-funded league.
Moral position? What are you on about?