'Liability': V'landys rips rugby over buy out idea

ARL chairman Peter V'landys has taken a swipe at rugby union after Laurie Daley's claim that the NRL should buy the fledging football code.

V'landys referred to the sport as a "liability" when responding to Daley's suggestion on Big Sports Breakfast.

"Rugby league should buy rugby union," Daley said.

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"I think they can co-exist. They can have good competition, and skills are transferable. [The NRL should] own rugby union. I think in 20-25 years' time AFL is a massive threat.

"I just reckon if we were closer together, you're not in competition and you can utilise those skills. They're transferable to either code. You can stop the raid of talented players at junior level going to AFL."

V'landys laughed off the suggestion with a brutal takedown of rugby union.

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"Well, the first rule in business is that you always buy an asset, not a liability," he said on the Footy Talk Podcast.

"So I guess that idea would be off the table straight away. Tell Laurie, you don't buy liabilities, you buy assets."

The ARL boss' comments come as the Wallabies look to rescue a disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign following losses to Fiji and Wales.

Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth, NRL legend Brad Fittler levelled criticism towards Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan after he suggested in April that both codes should have a "spelling competition" if there was a draw in a best of three scrums.

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"The boss of union has to be called out, Hamish McLennan, he was so gung-ho," he said.

"I remember there was a comment where he compared the scrums and then if we did any good at that he was going to have a spelling contest … insinuating that we weren't very clever."

Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns suggested rugby league might fare better in another subject.

"I think we'd go better in maths at the moment of how much rugby league's generating compared to (union)," he laughed before suggesting people don't join in on the pile-on.