It's the surrounding landscape that has changed. These days there is a bottom line - and not just on the balance sheet. Developments that began with the outbreak of the Super League war made losing money a major crime in rugby league. Previously, it was just a misdemeanour. But the jury is still out on whether any of the current NRL clubs will be given a life sentence and go to the wall for being in the red.
Football clubs know how to keep creditors at bay.
They've had a lot of experience at it. But they're going to need that experience, because it's just going to get harder. Changing poker machine laws and increasing competition from other forms of entertainment mean the handouts from leagues clubs to football clubs are getting smaller. It is no longer an automatic process that the football club holds its hand out for as much as it needs and the leagues club produces it. The Northern Eagles were just being honest when they admitted they were in financial trouble.