KEY POINTS:
The big talking point in league circles this week has been the mega-deal by which former Waratahs coach, and now coach of French rugby side Stade Francais, Ewen McKenzie has secured the services of superstar Mark Gasnier.
The Dragons centre is employing a get-out clause in his contract and leaving the Dragons two years before his deal runs out, for a reported $1 million a year.
It shows the buying power that the Northern Hemisphere rugby clubs have, and I believe there will now be a number of top-line league players who are hoping like hell that Gasnier goes up to the French competition and tears apart opposition backlines both on attack and in defence and becomes as big a star in French rugby as he is in Australian league.
The reason is simple. If Gasnier makes a huge impact there will be plenty of French clubs heading Downunder to check out the available talent. What people have to remember is that right now Gasnier is a no-name to the French club owners, the coaches and players. The fans and sponsors and French TV will have no idea who he is. He is only getting a start in France thanks to the determination of McKenzie who two years ago tried to sign Gasnier to the Waratahs but did not then have the cash as he now obviously does.
If Gasnier makes good, the floodgates might open. It will become increasingly difficult for the NRL competition to hang on to its stars.
Add to this the financial and merger issues surrounding the Sydney clubs with a possible reduction in the number of teams on the horizon, the fact the English Super League continues to sniff around for athletes and the move by Australian Rules to break ground for a new club in Sydney's western suburbs and all of a sudden the huge gains made by league in terms of TV deals, sponsorships and increasing crowd numbers look under threat.
One of the great things about league ever since the days when it split from rugby is the way it consistently manages change, and of all the sporting codes, league is the one that adapts quickly, mainly through necessity, as it seeks to stay alive in the marketplace.
This has been particularly true of league in Australia where the Super League war in 1996-97 forced rugby to go professional. It was a war that could have destroyed the game but since then the code has bounced back.
Innovations have been copied by rugby: the introduction of TV review of tries and the continuing expansion of the role of video reviewer; the introduction of a players' association; the copying of defensive plans and rugby teams' hiring of league defensive coaches. What we have in league is a game smart enough to innovate and, in rugby, another smart enough to copy the best league does.
So while there are great challenges for the NRL right now I am very confident the game will come up with ideas that allow it not just to survive, but to improve.
