THE decision by Sonny Bill Williams to walk out on the Bulldogs and rugby league is set to be the catalyst for major change in the game - possibly starting as early as today, when the 16 club chief executives gather at a scheduled meeting in Sydney.

The Herald has learned that the CEOs will be asked to consider whether there is a need for the NRL to commission an independent report into the state of the game in Australia - similar to the Crawford report into football in this country in 2003.

Committees formed last month comprising various chief executives have been discussing what needs to be done about the structure of the game and the financial aspects of the game, primarily the need to establish more revenue streams.

It is understood those discussions will consider the question of whether the league should commission a wide-ranging report as one of a number of options to try to find ways of improving the game's potentially suffocating financial problems.

Even if the game were in a significantly better financial state now, it would not be able to compete with the sort of money French rugby union is throwing at superstar Williams, but the ease with which he has gone has highlighted the need to do more to hold on to rank-and-file players.

The Herald spoke on and off the record with several high-profile people within the game yesterday, and the one constant in their opinions was that if there was to be a positive in Williams's departure, it was that it might speed up the process of reform.

"We've got to do something," leading player agent Steve Gillis said. "If this isn't the catalyst for it, I don't know what is. The game is under siege and needs to work harder to find a solution. It is just plodding along at a time when we need to make some big some decisions on things like expansion. Whatever happened to the strategic plan?"

Melbourne chief executive Brian Waldron said it was important not to resort to knee-jerk reactions, but that if there were suitable independent people available in the business community who were "free of the political pressures involved in being in footy clubs", it would be good to involve them in the planning.

"I'm not sure what the right model is for league, in the future," he said. "But there are models out there that work, and the independent body that runs the AFL is an excellent one." Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens - the most experienced coach in the NRL - said that if Williams's exit increased awareness of the game's problems, then at least something good would come out of it.

"It's an issue that we've got to handle intelligently, and not have a knee-jerk reaction to," he said. "Sonny Bill Williams will be replaced - great players will continue to emerge - but if his going raises consciousness when it comes to the wider financial problems in the game, and the need for solutions, that won't be a bad thing."

Brisbane chief executive Bruno Cullen said it was important not to panic, but that the Williams drama would put the focus on matters that needed to be addressed.

"What all of the clubs have got to do is forget about self-interest and agree to do what is best for the future of the game," he said.

Cullen, Penrith chief executive Mick Leary and Wests Tigers chief executive Steve Noyce said the committees that were appointed had been working hard for five weeks in an attempt to come up with answers, and that today's meeting had the potential to be a key one.

"I think a lot is going to come out of it," Leary said.

Another of the game's leading player agents, Wayne Beavis, believed the way forward was clear.

"The game should be run by an independent commission of no more than five members," Beavis said. "And we need a national identification. The game should be constantly under review. There were only 7000 at the Parramatta game on Friday night!"

Gillis said he had spoken with other agents and there were numerous players keen to switch to rugby if the money was right. He said he had one player in his own stable who was ready to go at the first opportunity.