AFTER running the AFL for 11 seasons, Andrew Demetriou has been touted as a potential saviour for the NRL after its CEO’s resignation.

Dave Smith has departed league’s top job after three years in charge, with the breakdown of broadcast rights negotiations being blamed for his departure.

Demetriou quit the AFL last year, saying he had “no regrets” despite leaving amid the tumult of the Essendon supplements saga and criticism of his handling of it.

Away from the footy bubble though, Demetriou is remembered far better for his business nous and the growth of AFL under his stewardship to become the undisputed top footy code in Australia.

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Australia’s top NRL journalist — Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield of The Daily Telegraph — certainly thinks he could be the man to rescue league, writing in August that club bosses wanted Demetriou’s “business clout” to help “clean up the mess”.

Readers appeared to agree, with almost two-thirds of poll voters saying it was “time for a change and Demetriou has proven quality”.

media_camera The results of a poll on The Sunday Telegraph website in August.

Whether Demetriou — a lifelong footy fanatic — could be tempted away from his lucrative post-AFL career to take on arguably the toughest job in Australian sport administration is unknown.

By the same token, Smith was criticised for his perceived lack of passion for rugby league — he infamously could not identify Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith after taking on the job in 2012 — so there may not be an appetite in NRL circles for someone so closely associated with a rival code to take on the job.

In an interview with the Sunday Herald Sun’s Patrick Carlyon in June last year, Demetriou suggested he was ready to become “a boring bloke”.

Whether he’s now bored enough to get back in the game — even if it is the “other” one — is unclear, but obviously there are plenty who’d like to see him approached.

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IS this the one man who could drag rugby league off the scrapheap? A number of the NRL clubs believe that to be the case.

Andrew Demetriou lifted the AFL to become the country’s No.1 winter footy code. One club boss told me during the week he would make a great short-term appointment.

“Give him the job for three years,” he said, “Let him come in, clean up the mess and then move on.

“It doesn’t matter what he gets paid — we just need someone with business clout. Someone who is respected at the big end of town.

“Get the TV deal done properly and to set the game up for the future.”

media_camera NRL club bosses have called for Andrew Demetriou to be approached to run the NRL. Picture: David Caird

Confidence in the current NRL administration has never been lower. Not in the four decades I have been covering this great game.

And it’s not just 12 disgruntled clubs. I’m now hearing NRL funded teams St George-Illawarra and the Newcastle Knights are wavering in their support for Dave Smith and John Grant.

Coaches, players and fans have had enough too. Dylan Napa, the Roosters forward, echoed the thoughts of most players on social media,

“Just saw the judiciary charges from the weekend, well done suits ruining the game.”

Coaches are gagged otherwise they’d be saying more. And the fans … they’ve voted with their feet. Crowd figures are the lowest since 2004.

The game is in absolute crisis. It’s why the Demetriou idea is a good one.