If the purpose of getting rid of NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg is to send a blunt message to stakeholders that the game's cost structure is bloated, it could prove counter-productive.

Should Greenberg and his leadership team, such as COO Nick Weeks and CFO Tony Crawford, be replaced by administrators of the quality of those who run Sydney’s NRL clubs, the game will never raise the revenue needed to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Todd Greenberg continued many of the high-cost consultancies of his predecessor, Dave Smith. Credit:Getty

Some club bosses in Sydney are on salaries a quarter of the size of Greenberg’s $1.2 million, and it shows. They do little to raise club revenue, relying on headquarters for handouts. Not surprisingly, NRL clubs contribute only 29 per cent of total game revenue ($700 million), compared to the AFL, in which clubs contribute 50 per cent of the overall income of $1.1 billion.

Subtract the revenue raised by “out of town” clubs, such as the Storm and the Broncos, and the miserable contribution of the Sydney clubs is more telling.