The letter sent to Rugby Australia by 11 disgruntled former Wallabies captains was more like a letter-bomb designed to blow up the administration of the national governing body – and it might just achieve its objective.
Former national team leaders – Nick Farr-Jones, George Gregan, Phil Kearns, Jason Little, Michael Lynagh, Rod McCall, Stephen Moore, Stirling Mortlock, Simon Poidevin, Nathan Sharpe and George Smith – co-signed an explosive letter calling for regime change at RA. The names of some former Wallabies captains such as John Eales, an ex-RA board member, were conspicuous by their absence.
According to the ex-skippers, Australian rugby has lost its way in recent times because of poor administration and leadership.
“We ask the current administration to heed our call and stand aside to allow the game to be transformed,” the captains co-wrote, echoing a verse from Bob Dylan’s revolutionary anthem, The Times They Are A-Changin’.
Conspiracy theorists may like to point out the strong Fox Sports connection among some of the ex-captains, but it’s understood the letter was instigated by Farr-Jones, a vocal critic of RA with no allegiance to the broadcaster. Farr-Jones is a former president of the NSWRU and Gregan sat on the RA board not so long ago, but for the most part the former captains do not wield any direct political power in the game. However, they are certainly influential.
While the ex-skippers do not name any particular individual who should stand aside, the letter will add to the pressure on under-siege RA chief executive Raelene Castle and interim chairman Paul McLean, himself a former Wallabies captain. McLean responded to the letter by inviting the ex-captains to meet with the RA board to discuss their concerns. Quick! Get them inside the tent! Too late. The damage is done.
The letter reflects the dissatisfaction of a lot of stakeholders in Australian rugby about RA’s performance on a whole range of issues from the Israel Folau saga, the Wallabies’ disappointing performance at last year’s World Cup and the posting of a $9.4m loss.
It is not just Castle who has come in for criticism. There have been calls from various commentators for the whole RA board to be sacked.
The former captains not only want the current leadership out, but they appear to know who they would like to see replace them. According to the ex-skippers, “a number of highly experienced rugby and business leaders are standing by to mentor and lead”.
Is it possible that Kearns himself is among that number? Kearns ran unsuccessfully against Castle when she was appointed to the top job three years ago and there was recent speculation he was looking to succeed her, which he dismissed as just “paper talk.” Maybe the former captains were referring to the likes of ex-RA CEO John O’Neill, who has been linked to a potential rugby war cabinet to rescue the game from financial disaster, or Sydney University rugby patriarch David Mortimer?
Whoever is “standing by” to lead, the former captains did not really offer any solutions to rugby’s problems other than calling for a “collaborative” approach. The new vision must include a plan that creates a “much-needed, sustainable commercial rugby business.” You would think that was an obvious objective, but the former captains clearly believe there is a need for a change in leadership to achieve it.
The timing of the letter was intriguing to say the least. Castle and RA had just negotiated an interim pay deal with the Rugby Union Players Association which will see players sacrifice 60 per cent of their salaries to help the code survive the coronavirus crisis. The negotiation was a bit drawn out and acrimonious at times, but the deal got done, seemingly fair to both parties, and placed RA in a position to secure a $16m loan from World Rugby to keep the game afloat.
Castle then announced her intention to resume broadcast negotiations and try to organise a resumption of play involving Trans-Tasman competition to regenerate revenue streams.
It would be fair to say that Castle’s future at RA rests largely on her ability to secure a lucrative new broadcast deal, but some stakeholders in the game fear she may have already missed the opportunity.
Fox Sports’ current $57m-a-year broadcast deal expires at the end of this year. When renegotiation talks started earlier this year, Fox Sports made a low initial offer of $20m a year. For the first time in the professional era, RA took the broadcast rights to open tender. There was speculation Optus might offer $30m a year for the broadcast rights, but never confirmed.
RA’s strategy was to create competitive tension between rival broadcasters to drive up the value of the TV rights. Initially, it seemed to work. Fox Sports reportedly made a substantially increased revised offer, which was also rejected. Fox Sports then pulled out of the bidding process. It has been reported that Castle was just a week away from finalising a deal with Optus when the virus forced Super Rugby into shut down last month.
In hindsight, if RA had accepted Fox Sport’s improved offer, the game would be in a much stronger position going forward. Presumably, Castle will now go back to Optus to see if they are still interested, but what if they are not? Will Fox Sports negotiate with the current administration?
If RA fails to deliver a satisfactory broadcast deal, there will be more than just 11 former Wallabies captains writing nasty letters to them.
