WC CFO TheStrategicCFO#44 Online NZ Final - Flipbook - Page 1
Ian Gilbert
Journalist
Ian Gilbert is a Melbourne-based journalist who has worked for newspapers in Australia
and the UK, including The Age, The Australian, The Guardian and The Independent.
He has worked across news, sport and business, interviewing everyone from celebrity chefs
to international rugby players. Ian is also an accomplished journalism trainer, devising
and delivering courses for clients such as Sky Sports (London). Away from the keyboard,
he is a keen cook and a published recipe-writer.
Graham Maher
QUEENSLAND
RUGBY LEAGUE
By Ian Gilbert
Queensland Rugby League CFO Graham Maher is excited by the possibilities
the digital revolution is creating in sport.
As a lifelong rugby league fan,
becoming CFO for the Queensland
Rugby League could well be seen
as a dream job for Graham Maher.
He admits it’s an enviable position,
but is quick to point out he must be as
dedicated off the field as the players
are on it.
In sporting
administration, you
don’t employ fans;
you employ people
for their ability to
do the job,
Graham says.
”
www.CFOMagazine.com.au
While the National Rugby League
(NRL) competition represents the
game’s shop window, the Queensland
Rugby League (QRL) looks after
everything below that in the sport-mad
state, as well as State of Origin. Just
as a company has a commitment to
its shareholders, the QRL’s remit is to
support all the clubs and players it
represents equally.
“The young boy or girl playing under-6s
at Innisfail should expect the same level
of service and delivery as an adult player
in Ipswich, Gold Coast or Brisbane,”
Graham says.
NRL is the main source of revenue
for QRL, with the pool of money from
TV rights and sponsorship shared
between the 16 participating clubs
(three of them in Queensland)
and the state governing bodies.
Graham says: “The biggest thing for
us is funding security. You’re looking
at revenue growth, and you’ve got the
grant funding aspect – for us the NRL.
That’s dependent on so many things.”
Naturally, he and his colleagues take
a keen interest in the fortunes of the
game at the elite level of the National
Rugby League. If the game is in good
shape at the top level, the trickle-down
effect for the Queensland Rugby League
is obvious; similarly, adverse headlines
prompt consternation at the QRL’s office
on the doorstep of Brisbane’s Suncorp
Stadium.
“Player behaviour is a hot topic in the
community and the impact that can
have on sponsors is enormous,” he says,
reflecting on the importance of setting
high standards of governance.
