The NRL doesn’t need another Dave Smith. That’s according to premiership-winning Brisbane five-eight Ben Ikin who believes the next CEO of the competition needs to be a rugby league person.

“My first piece of advice in recruiting a new CEO — please don’t go global” Ikin wrote for foxsports.com.au.

“If I’m right in assuming that global means attracting candidates who earn a lot of money working for huge companies in other industries, I’ll say it again, please don’t go global.

“We just had the “change agent” with zero rugby league experience who learned the hard way that a lack of industry specific IQ makes running the game very hard … and painful.

“And that’s not Dave Smith’s fault, he was the CEO with top end of town experience from the outside we thought we needed.

“The professional sports industry in Australia is one of the most competitive in the world.

“In order to compete, the business has to be set up in a way that encourages growth and focuses key stakeholders on working towards a common goal.

“The ARLC didn’t believe someone with those skills existed in the game, so they appointed a banker.”