Rugby League Coaching Manuals

By Andrew Webster, Daily Telegraph - Is Queensland Premier Anna Bligh using something as sacred as the NRL Grand Final as a political plaything? Absolutely not, she has said emphatically in an exclusive interview about her bid to snatch the NRL decider from Sydney and move it to Suncorp Stadium.

Ms Bligh, who is neck-deep in an election campaign, found time to email through the correspondence between her and NRL boss David Gallop.

"If the NRL wants to be a truly national game it has to let other states host the Grand Final," she told us yesterday. "There needs to be Super Bowl-type allocation as happens in the US where cities bid and plan in advance for not just the game, but major lead-up events as well.

"The Brisbane semi-final attracted more than 50,000 fans while the two Sydney semi-finals collectively had just on 60,000. If I was sitting on the NRL board those figures would be telling me something.

"The centre of the rugby league universe is shifting north and we're playing an active part in making that happen by having the code's best facilities - be it Brisbane, the Gold Coast or North Queensland."

Ms Bligh - a Titans fan - also slammed suggestions this was an election stunt.

"In October last year I made an issue of this and followed it up with a chat with Mr Gallop at last year's World Cup final at Suncorp and then again with a January letter," she said. "All of this was well before any election was called."

We can also tell you NSW Sports Minister Kevin Greene phoned Gallop first thing on Monday morning to set up a meeting to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, Events NSW chairman John O'Neill has bristled at suggestions - and many are suggesting it - that there is a conflict of interest in him being in charge of the ARU and the body that must ensure the Grand Final stays in Sydney.

"Any notion that because of my position here in rugby I am conflicted and wouldn't try very hard to keep the Grand Final just doesn't wash," he fumed. "It is insulting and wrong."