By all accounts Delaney has been the ultimate schemer and politician. I'm reading "Who Stole Our Game?" and the author quotes FAI insiders as saying JD has a history of obstructing and undermining any initiative proposed by a CEO and is as Machiavellian as they come. One quote is quite funny "the best thing about Delaney being the CEO is that he doesn't have Delaney to undermine him from underneath".
I've no doubt you're right regarding Philip Browne, although I think organising and co-ordinating rugby in the professional era has been easier than football. To date it has simply been less commercial, less competitive and less political. Things are changing though and there are financial and political headwinds to contend with. I certainly admire how the IRFU has been transparent about its financial problems. None of this "we'll be debt free by 2020" without givbing any hint of how they'll achieve this.
One area where Delaney does deserve credit is that he has engaged with UEFA very effectively - although bar hosting the Europa League Final I'm not sure if there's been any tangible benefit to this.