42 | theceomagazine.com
Football – they had an administrator who
understood the game inside and out. There
was never going to be any danger of the
former Canterbury Bulldogs CEO mixing
up star players Ben Barba and Benji
Marshall, like his predecessor did at the
2013 season launch.
More importantly, Todd had already
proven he was an innovator and strategic
thinker. In his role as Dave’s right-hand
man, he lobbied hard for the multimillion-
dollar investment into a central command
centre for video refereeing decisions,
which would become known as ‘the
bunker’. There was no shortage of
opposition at Rugby League Central,
but he continued to champion the cause,
unwavering in his belief that the end
product would not only improve the
accuracy of refereeing calls but provide
greater transparency for spectators. The
bunker was unveiled in the first round
of the 2016 competition and opened to
rave reviews. The credit was all his, and
assured his promotion to CEO less than
two weeks later.
“While you have a responsibility to
protect the core fabric of the game, you
also have to be brave enough to encourage
innovation and ensure the game keeps
evolving,” Todd tells The CEO Magazine.
“The introduction of the bunker, or what
really is a central review technology arm,
was a first for Australian sport. There are
overseas sports that have been using
similar technology for a number of years,
but we’re the first sport in this country
to use it. It was always going to draw
criticism as well, and that’s because fans
watch the game through the lens of their
team – that’s what makes the game great.
But I don’t think anyone can argue with
the fact that we’re more accurate and much
more transparent than we’ve ever been.I mean, whether you’re sitting in a stadium
or in your lounge room, you get to hear
directly from the decision maker on why
a certain ruling was made. I think that’s a
great innovation for the game.”
It’s often said that a week is a long
time in football, so it’s no surprise that it
only took two months after his move into
the hot seat for Todd to be confronted
with the first significant test of his
leadership. Parramatta was found guilty
of severely rorting the salary cap, and all
eyes were on the new chief executive to
see what punishment he’d hand down.
He stripped the Eels of the preseason
Auckland Nines title, docked the club
12 competition points, effectively ending
their finals hopes, and then delivered a
fine of A$1 million. It was a firm and, in
the opinion of most, fair penalty, but it
was the character he showed in divulging
the gut-wrenching verdict to the players
in person that really impressed.
“In a role like this one, you have to
blend strong leadership and clarity for
punishment with compassion,” he nods.
“At the end of the day, we’re doing a job
that deals with people and with their
livelihoods. The Parramatta example is
probably a good one to use. We had to
be tough on the club for all the obvious
reasons, but I felt like I owed it to the
players to stand in front of them and give
them that news before they heard it
second-hand. So it was a difficult
discussion to have, and one of the most
difficult moments of my career to date,
but I never entertained the possibility
of doing it any other way.”
Since the salary cap breach, there has
been a seemingly relentless procession of
headline-grabbing transgressions – from
domestic violence allegations to players
associating with known criminals, and“ In a role like this one, you have to blend strong leadership
and clarity for punishment with compassion.”