Given that NRL club chairmen are meeting to discuss a possible rebellion as I write this, I thought it might be helpful to discuss rugby league politics.

"Rugby league politics" is usually addressed in terms of the ambitions of individuals. Parramatta are "riven by politics", we keep reading. A coach can be sacked as "a result of internal politics" at his club.

But as the game reaches a new era in terms of administration and finances, I believe we can go further than these glib expressions. I believe we now have a defined "left" and "right" in our game – certainly in Australia.

In the UK, we perhaps still have a political scene dominated by self-interest. The clubs who wanted marquee players, for instance, were generally the clubs who could afford them.