RUGBY league has always been a code of over-reaction. Instead of celebrating 100 years of history, or delighting in NSW's unexpected and expertly prepared win over Queensland in State of Origin I, or citing the wonderful Wests Tigers versus Titans match at Leichhardt Oval as evidence the lads on the field are still putting on a great show, we're talking death row for Sydney clubs.

Surely such an entertaining game between a joint-venture club and a new side at a time when the NRL was becoming a "run from dummy half, put on a block play and kick for the corners" bore, was a reminder rugby league has an enduring, even endearing, capacity to surprise.

So what prompted this week of reactive gloom? NRL chief executive David Gallop kicked off with his prediction a Sydney club could die as a result of the savage burden of the increased tax on poker machine revenue, despite the NRL lobbying NSW's then treasurer Michael Egan to change the planned legislation three years ago.

Shortly after the Gallop bomb, South Sydney co-owner Peter Holmes a Court ran from dummy half, saying he could not guarantee the future of the Rabbitohs, a club which plans to ban poker machines.

Instead of Magpies supporters at Wests' Black and White ball last night enjoying a centenary of rich history - from millionaires to fibros to duplex dwellers with Balmain - fans were speculating where the club would be in 2010.

Suddenly, what began as a strategy to pressure the NSW Government to change its tax policy became Souths moving to the Central Coast, where their only resemblance to the Rabbitohs would be their colours.

What should have been a year in which we look back on a century of achievement has become a year when people are talking a new beginning.

Traditionalists have become revolutionaries - men who fought to nurture the game's history are preaching new franchises, new countries, new leagues.

Fans always like the mathematical challenge of new semi-final formats, or draws to accommodate extra rounds or byes, or the geography of merged teams but suddenly we are having long-term league officials rolling out blank pages of butcher's paper to draw new maps. Take Titans chairman Paul Broughton, a man who has done everything in rugby league except referee.

He's held a ball, a clipboard, a team sheet, a meeting to order - as player, coach, selector, administrator and board member - but not a whistle. He was sacked as Newtown coach and became a NSWRL official, creating the Metropolitan Cup, which allowed the Jets to survive.

The Super League war broke out the night of his 64th birthday, when only a few city blocks separated John Quayle's arrival at the party at Bobby Chow's hotel in The Rocks, trailing faxes from the rebel clubs, and John Ribot signing Canterbury players at Goldfields House.

Sometime during the next 10 years, Broughton got younger. He was moved to the Gold Coast to run the Chargers and when they folded, remained there, developing the business plan that became the Titans. The success of the Titans, aged three, has changed his thinking.

"I agree with [former Souths president] George Piggins that this is the beginning of a new century," he said. "Close the history book and retain the heritage of some clubs who cannot survive and maintain their dignity as Newtown has.

"No more mergers. Form a historical clubs society limited to those no longer in existence. Then let the process of a new club with a new name begin, not incorporating any of the former clubs logos, or brand names.

"Let new management and some old and new fans choose the name. The original Sydney club boundaries set in 1908 must be abandoned and prime consideration must be given to commissioned reports on demographic change, particularly the Polynesian impact. Let 2010 be the new beginning."

Ribot, inaugural boss of the Broncos and founder of the Storm - clubs that have won eight premierships in a combined 30 years - has also been monitoring the debate, with a sense of deja voodoo. Always a believer that Sydney had too many clubs, he is fascinated by Parramatta boss Denis Fitzgerald's solution to falling revenue - cut the salary cap.

"Denis wants to recede further back into Sydney, dragging the Broncos, Storm, Titans with him," Ribot said. "I agree with [Roosters player] Willie Mason, who is effectively saying, 'Get a business plan'. The AFL and cricket are now the strongest sports in Australia and are in all the major stadiums. The AFL will own Telstra Dome in five years and are reported to be buying the Olympic stadium at Homebush, while they also play at the MCG, SCG and Gabba.

"Meanwhile, we're playing in stadiums we don't fit into. The AFL offers North Melbourne $100 million to relocate to the Gold Coast, while we offer the Rabbitohs $8m to move to Gosford. Let's look at the big picture, guys. Maybe they're seeing something we are not."

Broughton says: "Our sport needs a commissioner with ultimate power and visionary people to advise who aren't clinging to the security blanket because they are frightened people. The clubs must own the game and News Ltd and the ARL be major shareholders but not run the game."

Ribot has similarly strong views on the need for the game to be independent, saying of the blame game: "It's our own fault. We can't keep passing the buck."

Gallop says: "This 'where are we going?' debate and the hysteria over expansion ignores the fact we have introduced a brand-new competition - the Toyota Cup - which is rating over 100,000 viewers."

Asked whether the NRL receives a TV rights payment for the new programming, Gallop said: "No, it's a one-year deal. Fox Sports and us want to see where it's going. They pay production costs."

So they bloody well should. The NRL is underfunded because of a poor TV deal with Fox Sports, a pay TV monopoly that is half owned by News Ltd, which half owns the NRL. Rugby league is the best sport in the world for TV, meaning young people can watch games on big screens in pubs, buying $3 beers, enjoying close-up replays, rather than catch a train to Homebush Bay and pay twice as much for a drink in a stadium without atmosphere.

Clubs would not have to rely on poker machines, or gate takings if they were compensated for the magnificent product we saw at Leichhardt Oval, or the free programming on Fox.