Good times hid deep cracks in the bloated NRL - which blew $500K a DAY and had more staff than the Premier League. But the coronavirus crisis which brought the game to its knees may be just what the sport needs, writes MIKE COLMAN

A part-time national coach earning $300,000 a year, a $2million television ad that had to be re-shot because of errors and public derision, a $10,000 diamond ring for a player's wife and an administration staff reportedly twice as large as the English Premier League.

Those are just some of the $500,000-a-day running costs of the NRL that have all but brought the code to its knees during the COVID-19 pandemic and will almost certainly see the game dragged back to the days of semi-professionalism.

And it could be the best thing that has happened to it for decades.