Under a proposal being formulated behind the scenes by energetic and forward-thinking administrators, News Ltd and the ARL are being encouraged to dissolve their NRL partnership and give responsibility for running the premiership, the representative calender and development to a newly formed body of six to eight commissioners elected by the clubs.

It is believed the plan has support within News Ltd, the NRL and NRL clubs but QRL general manager Ross Livermore has admitted to reservations about vesting so much power on clubs and said the leagues that ran the game outside of the NRL needed to develop a strategic position.

"At this stage, we haven't been fully briefed but we know that there is a document floating around on all of this and once the State of Origin is over I think we will sit down and look at the direction the game is going and where we should be heading," Livermore said. "We'd like to think that the various leagues - the Queensland Rugby League, the NSW Rugby League and the Country Rugby League - that are responsible for the grassroots of the game will get together and do a strategic plan for the future."

Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle is widely credited with leading the push for reform but such is the momentum for an independent commission that the proposal has support at almost every level of the game.

The QRL's decision to appoint former Queensland deputy premier Terry Mackenroth and Super League architect John Ribot to its restructured board last December was viewed as an indication that the Maroons were positioning for change, while there were fears the NSWRL would oppose any plan that meant surrendering power.

Under the proposal for an independent commission, the QRL and NSWRL would become second-tier bodies administering state competitions but losing control of major representative fixtures such as State of Origin, while the ARL would be largely irrelevant. But, as reported in the Herald last month, Maroons officials would be reluctant to cede control of the code's showpiece Origin series to NRL clubs, of which only three are based in Queensland and two - Melbourne and the New Zealand Warriors - have no emotional connection other than supplying some players to either state.

Livermore said the QRL was not yet in a position to adopt a firm stance on the merits of an independent commission but indicated that the Maroons directors would need convincing as to why the status quo shouldn't be retained.

"There is a lot more to rugby league than just the NRL competition," he said. "In terms of development, we're still putting junior rugby league registrations on our computer because there are so many and I'd say we'll have a record number of registrations this season."

Despite Queensland's strong position after a record four successive Origin series wins and the ability to draw good crowds to games at almost any level, Livermore rejected speculation the QRL was planning to capitalise by pushing for equal power with NSW on the ARL board.

"We would like to be on an even par with NSW but it's not a big issue," Livermore said. "We get the same number of votes but NSW has got the chairman and the chief executive.

"Last year when we wanted to change the rules about the appointment of the Australian coach so that a state coach could do the job, they voted to block that but we copped it sweet. We still feel that Mal Meninga will be coach of Australia one day but Tim Sheens did a great job in the Test this year so he's got our support.

"With all the talk about an independent commission there's not much point worrying about that … until we know what our position on that is anyway."

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