Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis outlines why Nigel Wood is right man for RFL

Simon Johnson resigned earlier this week after a club-led move to oust him, paving the way for Wood to take over on an interim basis.

Wood, who has stepped back from his role as Bradford Bulls chairman, is a divisive figure, with critics viewing the appointment of a former RFL chief executive as a step backwards.

However, Wood has the backing of officials across Super League, from those who have been around from the start of the summer era to others who are new to the game.

Ellis, who took charge at Wakefield in 2023, has been impressed by Wood's enthusiasm for the sport.

"As the chairman of the RFL, you should be an absolute presence in rugby league," said Ellis.

"Nigel lives and breathes the game. He'll get around the grounds and the clubs to get a feel for where everybody is at.

"He'll make common-sense decisions. He'll work with the clubs to understand what's not working and what they're struggling with. He's got a good rapport with everybody in the game, barring a couple of clubs who haven't voted for him.

"I speak to him twice a week about rugby and those chats are two hours long. It's all about improving the fan experience, coming up with ideas to make the game more entertaining and making sure clubs are financially sustainable so we avoid more Salford situations.

"I'd say the average Super League club at the minute is propped up by £2.5million to £3million. Clubs will lose £30million this year.

"He'll look at that and say it's not sustainable. He'll work smarter and grow the game whilst making sure we don't waste money like we do now."

Wood's detractors have highlighted the losses of over £2million incurred on his watch shortly before his departure at the start of 2018, including a severance package of £328,840.

"There's a lot of real poor media, in my opinion, regarding the pay-off," added Ellis.

"He got asked to leave the job because the clubs wanted to go in a different direction at the time led by Ian Lenaghan at Wigan. If I release a player from his contract, I pay his contract up and that's what happened with Nigel.

"You can't push a guy out of a job and not pay his contract up. That wasn't a negotiation. He was told he was going and that they'd pay his contract up.

"Nigel will save the RFL a significant amount of money in replacing Simon and potentially Frank (Slevin) as well on the commercial side. Certainly in the near future, he's going to almost try to do two people's jobs and there will be a significant saving.

"He's not doing this for the money; he's seen things that are wrong in the game and wants to put them right. That figure of around £300,000 that got lost out of rugby league will be clawed back.

"And when he was there last time, the RFL made money 16 out of 17 years but people remember the year he left being a bad one even though he wasn’t there for half of it."

At a time when club incomes are declining significantly in line with the shrinking Sky Sports broadcasting contract, officials are encouraged by Wood's record of successfully negotiating four consecutive increases in the deal's value.

Owners have been accused of putting their self-interest before the game's long-term health but Ellis – one of the men essentially keeping Super League afloat – insists the opposite is true.

"The decision is not for me personally," he said.

"I'm happy at Wakefield and have the funds to compete with other clubs. We're not a million miles off. I've been able to put money in and give Wakefield a fighting chance of getting in the top six within 18 months.

"But it's the long-term sustainability. The owners of the clubs are worried that if you decide in 10 or 15 years' time that you don't want to own the club anymore for whatever reason, you might be £30million or £40million into the investment and have to find somebody to take over from you who can afford to spend £3million a year to run it.

"I'm worried that if I don't find that person, Wakefield will drop out of Super League. We’re right at the start of the project and I plan to be here a long time but that's the concern of all the clubs from the top of the competition to the bottom.

"I think Nigel is a good negotiator and has done great deals before. Sky are not quite in as strong a position as they used to be but Nigel will get the best deal he possibly can and make the game sustainable based on that."

There are fears that Wood's return to the RFL will damage relations with the NRL amid ongoing speculation of a potential takeover by the sport's premier competition.

However, Ellis is not convinced that the reshuffle would deter key figures if they are genuinely interested in getting involved with the British game.

"My question to the NRL would be: why does this damage our relationship?" said Ellis, the millionaire owner of DIY Kitchens.

"We're replacing a guy who has very little presence in the game, almost a silent chairman, and has lots of other responsibilities with a guy who wants to get in and make massive improvements.

"The NRL haven't approached us. We haven't heard anything from them. As owners, we know as much as anyone else that (Peter) V'landys likes us because we took a load of fans to Vegas – but what are they actually doing? There's been talk for a long time.

"The NRL production is brilliant but why can't we do that ourselves? These are the conversations we're going to have with Nigel. There's a good group of us now that want to look at stuff like this.

"My message is to get behind Nigel and not just believe everything you've read previously. He's an ideas machine and has got key figures in the game like Derek (Beaumont), Eamonn and Gary Hetherington fired up.

"If any of his doubters had an hour in his company talking rugby league and heard his passion, they would not doubt his integrity.

"The job we're trying to do is cut costs and grow the game. People tell me it can't be done – but it can. If you make good decisions, you can spend less and achieve more."