Liam's timing is interesting. The academy has been in place for years, so you wonder why he has chosen to write the story now??
The editor decides when the story runs, not the journo
then its pretty clear the paper does have an issue with the nix. If the journo has had the story a while now, why has the editor waiting to run it now? And why, if its supposed to be a expose on the abuse of the funding, is it solely focused on the nix and not all the rorts going on, ie across rugby, football and probably most sporting bodies that have found loopholes to get money they may not be entitled too?
Just because he’s been working on it a while doesn’t mean it was finished a while ago. A story on all sports would be massive and a single story about the Nix would still be one part on its own. I also notice you’re playing the “but everyone does it” card