NRL CEO Dave Smith has hit back at critics of his television rights negotiations saying the NRL wanted to sign an early free-to-air deal placing themselves ahead of time.

Quizzed on the matter by Phil Rothfield on The Daily Telegraph’s NRL podcast, Smith says rugby league is in a perfect position.

“..We are in a very strong position. We deliberately went out to the market two-and-a-half years early so we could test the market properly,” Smith said.

“We have already secured more than $900 million from the free-to-air rights and that is nearly as much as the entire broadcasting rights from the current deal.

“That deal delivers fans four live and free games a week.

“And we still have the pay TV rights to come with more than two years to come to an agreement with a provider.”