Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has recruited one of his most trusted confidants – former detective, Racing NSW investigator and Perth Bears director Jacqueline Johnstone – as his top lieutenant at the NRL.
V’landys took over as interim NRL chief executive a fortnight ago following the departure of Andrew Abdo to Tennis Australia and has set about getting projects such as his ambitious global round off the ground.
With Abdo’s close adviser Misha Zelinsky having also finished at Rugby League Central after the code’s $5.3 billion broadcast deal was clinched this month, V’landys has turned to Johnstone.
She has been a senior figure at Racing NSW, where she led the investigations and surveillance department before taking over marketing. Johnstone was also last year installed as one of the inaugural board members of the Bears ahead of their entry to the NRL in 2027. She previously had a career with NSW Police, specialising in criminal investigations.
According to sources in rugby league, speaking on the condition of anonymity, Johnstone has been brought in as acting chief operating officer at the NRL.
The NRL declined to comment.
V’landys has taken four months’ long service leave from Racing NSW, which he has run for 22 years, to replace Abdo in a temporary capacity.
He has said he is yet to make up his mind whether to make the move permanently and become a full-time executive chairman of rugby league, a development which is widely anticipated across the game and would make him its most powerful official ever.
Whether that happens or not, it should come as little surprise that Johnstone is part of his team.
She is very much in V’landys’ inner circle. She was seated behind him during his appearance at the parliamentary inquiry into the proposed sale of Rosehill Gardens racecourse for housing in 2024 and is a regular in the directors’ room at Royal Randwick when V’landys holds court on major Saturday race meetings.
Johnstone was also a notable attendee in Las Vegas this year for the round-one double header, having been appointed to the Perth board in June 2025.
It is unknown for how long she will occupy the role at the NRL, which she is performing as a contractor, and if she is stepping aside from her director duties with the Bears.
The dual responsibilities are complicated by the fact the NRL owns the Perth franchise and because of resistance it has faced from other clubs in offering the Bears salary cap relief to help them sign a marquee player.
Suzanne Young previously served as NRL chief operating officer from 2014 to 2016 during the tenure of former boss Dave Smith.
Johnstone has come in after the exit of Zelinsky on the same day as Abdo left the NRL short on senior management.
Abdo had led the NRL for six years before exiting to succeed Craig Tiley as chief executive of Tennis Australia, which has been the highest paying post in Australian sport with a salary of more than $3 million a year.
Zelinsky had designs on becoming NRL chief executive but left as V’landys began as interim boss.
A former senior trade union official with strong Labor links, Zelinsky was a key player in the $600 million federal government deal under which the PNG Chiefs will join the competition in 2028. He also worked heavily on the NRL’s United States and international strategy.
V’landys has prioritised the establishment of a global round – in which games could be played in destinations such as London, Hong Kong and Tokyo – and will also need to negotiate with the Rugby League Players Association on the players’ cut of the record broadcast deal.
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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
