A NEW contract for NRL chief executive David Gallop has been finalised before tomorrow's official handover of power to the independent commission that will run the game.

It had been agreed for some time by News Ltd and the ARL that Gallop should remain in charge of the game's administration for the next four years, but the deal was only ratified yesterday.

Gallop, who celebrated his 10th anniversary in the job last week, negotiated the terms of his contract extension directly with his new boss, commission chairman John Grant, and agreed to the deal before Christmas, but it had to be approved before the new body came into place.

It is one of many issues being finalised in the countdown to the independent commission's formation, with NRL clubs needing to lodge club agreements to play in this year's competition run by the new body before tomorrow.

Grant is due to attend a press conference at 11.30am to officially announce the formation of the Australian Rugby League Commission, but not before a hectic morning of meetings to finalise the legalities of the handover.

The ARL will hold a general meeting at 8.30am to vote on constitutional changes that will dissolve the body and transfer the company to the commission.

ARL Development will also be wound up at a separate meeting before the ARL Commission meets to formalise its existence.

''There will be one small period in between where there won't be any directors of any of the companies,'' ARL chairman John Chalk said.

''There is still a fair bit to do tomorrow with the lawyers and then we hand the baton on. It is a pretty historical time, and I am quite confident that the commissioners will do a good job because they have got a lot of expertise among them.''

Each of the commissioners has their own speciality, with Grant, a member of Australia's 1972 World Cup team, running his own IT company, Data#3. The others are:

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