THE increasing financial pressure on the game has led to South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson urging all clubs to embrace membership drives as their greatest potential saviour.

Richardson's declaration comes at a time when one of the NRL's biggest stars, Mark Gasnier, has been lost to French rugby union because league could not attract enough money to keep him, and clubs, including Parramatta, are being forced to cut their spending on infrastructure because of the effect of increased poker machine taxes on the leagues clubs that support them.

The game in New Zealand is also searching for ways to strengthen its position, with the NZ Rugby League yesterday announcing the formation of a committee to undertake an independent review of the game's governance and administration.

The bid to convince league fans to adopt the membership concept, which is one of the greatest strengths of the AFL, is being supported by other high-profile officials within the game, including Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg and NRL boss David Gallop.

Richardson is adamant there is nothing to stop NRL clubs from being just as successful in attracting paying members as the AFL has since its concerted membership drive began to take off in the mid-1980s.

"Membership is the most important element we can use to ensure the financial survival of the clubs and the game," Richardson said yesterday. "People think membership has always been a big factor in the AFL, but it wasn't always the case.

"That code began a concerted membership drive in the mid-1980s and once it took off the numbers have just kept going up ever since. The AFL has about 570,000 members across its clubs now, compared to about 75,000 in the NRL.

"We're obviously a long way behind at this stage, but the great thing for our game is that there is huge potential for us to make up those numbers c It's about changing the mentality of the fans, when it comes to how they support their club. The AFL did it and so can we. It has already started. The league membership has gone up significantly in the last couple of years. Here at Souths we've got 6640 members now, compared to less than 2000 about 18 months ago. We've been working to convince the fans that if they want to play a genuine role in the club going forward, then membership is the best way.

"Membership means that a supporter is a season ticket-holder. Plus, there are side benefits c where the members can come and mix with the team. It is guaranteed money for the football club and it creates a sense of genuine involvement for the supporter. If a Souths fan pulls me aside and starts arguing about things related to the club, the first thing I say to them is, 'Are you a member?' If they're not, then I don't really want to discuss the issues with them, because they don't have a stake in the club."

The Bulldogs have a membership drive with the motto of '10,000 by 2010'. Greenberg admits it is a big aim, but he says there is no point in thinking small when it comes to trying to strengthen the club's position in a crowded Sydney marketplace.

"We, as clubs, need to continue to get away from our reliance on poker machine revenue and the only significant way in which we can do that is by increasing our membership," Greenberg said.

"The Swans are an AFL club, but more importantly they are a Sydney club and they have got close to 30,000 members. There is nothing to stop us, as league clubs, from dramatically increasing our membership and adding a considerable amount to our revenue that way."

Gallop said the NRL was lending "increasing resources" to the membership drive, which he described as "the next big phase in the game's resurgence".

¡ Outgoing St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown will continue his career as a head coach after being appointed to English Super League club Huddersfield.

Brown secured the job over the Bulldogs' Steve Folkes and Wests Tigers assistant Royce Simmons, although the latter pulled out of the race this week.