Walsh excited by prospects of CRL position

The CRL annual general meeting brought together officials from all corners of the state, with the election of vice-presidents being the only positions for which a ballot was required.

Walsh was elected into the junior vice-president position while incumbent Doug Harrison was voted on as senior vice-president.

Walsh vacated his position as secretary with Group 11 last month hoping to earn his spot on the board, and with that goal accomplished, he said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"For a long time now my work has been about trying to help Group 11 and Western Division, but now I get a chance to hopefully help rugby league across all the bush centres in NSW," he said.

"It's a massive honour for me, and I'm very thankful to the people that voted me in to the position.

"It's a very positive time to be involved at CRL level. They're pushing to be a more professional outfit and the push to bring more NRL games into country areas is something I'm very excited about.

"We're lucky too that we've got a guy like 'Bobcat' (Andrew Ryan) on board working with the bush kids to help with their transition to Sydney and helping more of them make a go if it down there with NRL clubs."

With the CRL constitution undergoing an overhaul, Walsh will initially be in the position for just one year.

But if he earns election again at next year's annual meeting, he will serve a further two-year term at least.

CRL chief executive Terry Quinn said he was pleased to have Walsh on board with the organisation.

"Bob obviously has a vast amount of experience with rugby league through his years of involvement out in the Western region," Quinn said.

"But he also brings with him a lot of business acumen and offers a lot more than just that footy background.

"I've worked closely with him in the past on projects and we work well together and I look forward to that continuing to be the case."