Peter V'landys has revealed he feared losing Andrew Abdo three months ago and concedes the outgoing NRL boss is taking up the nation's "ultimate" sporting administrative position at Tennis Australia.
In a bombshell development, Abdo announced his resignation as NRL chief executive on Monday and will replace long-serving TA supremo Craig Tiley, who is taking up the same role with the US Tennis Association.
Tiley has been far and away Australia's highest-paid sporting administrator, earning several million dollars a year and even V'landys said he couldn't stand in Abdo's way.
"It's a position that any sporting administrator would aspire to," the Australian Rugby League Commission chair told reporters in Sydney.
"It's an international competition. He gets to travel to Wimbledon, New York, Paris. I mean, I can offer him Manly and Papua New Guinea.
