John Grant's days are seemingly numbered after disgruntled NRL clubs on Monday called an emergency general meeting to vote on the future of the under-fire ARL commission chairman.
The NRL confirmed it had received an application for an EGM where a vote will be held on whether to axe Grant and with the clubs seemingly holding the numbers, he is facing a tough fight for his survival.
The clubs would require 14 of the game's 26 shareholders - comprising the 16 clubs, QRL, NSWRL and eight commissioners - to oust him.
It's reported that Newcastle and Gold Coast, both of which are owned by the NRL, did not support the call for the EGM.
However it's believed the other 14 clubs and NSWRL both backed the move, seemingly leaving Grant out of a job.
The governing body now has eight days to respond to the application and must call the meeting within 21 days of that.
It came as rugby league legend Peter Sterling implored for strong leadership from Rugby League Central as the standoff between Grant and the NRL clubs enters a second week.
The relationships between head office and the clubs has reached crisis point after the governing body last week reneged on a funding model agreed to a year ago.
Clubs were expected to be invited back to the negotiation table later this week, however some chairs have vowed to boycott the meeting, refusing to re-open talks with Grant.
Sterling said the events of the past week were a disappointing look for the game.
"The one thing, when the commission was appointed, was we wanted to avoid a disconnect between the hierarchy and the clubs," Sterling said.
"And from what I read - again I don't know the inside story to it - there appears to be a disconnect there that we need to sort out very quickly."
Sterling said the major issues in the game such as the collective bargaining agreement and future salary caps needed to be addressed before the holiday season.
"We're not far away from kickoff. We need some leadership now - some strong leadership - especially after what has happened over the last week," he said.
Sterling also said he was unsure whether Grant, who was named as the inaugural chairman of the ARLC in 2011, was still the man to govern the game.
However he queried whether there were any better alternatives.
"It's certainly not a great look when you get a no-confidence call from the clubs," he said.
"But the other thing too, if you're moving somebody from a particular position, you've got to have somebody better to come in mind.
"I haven't seen anybody else mentioned in that regard.
"I'm not happy to see the game not being spoken about in a great light at the moment, but I do have confidence in plenty of people in there in the hierarchy that we can nail this on the head and move on."
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