Comment: Our rugby union needs leadership that is neither pale nor stale, writes Jim Kayes
New Zealand Rugby’s new chairman will be named on May 31 and it has to be Bailey Mackey.
That’s not because the other candidate, Christchurch accountant Stewart Mitchell is unfit for the job, it’s just that his time has gone.
New Zealand Rugby doesn’t need another gold card toting Pākehā businessman at the helm. We’ve had that in Brent Impey and he did an okay job.
Now is the time for New Zealand Rugby to show a new face, a new perspective on the game. Mackey is young, at 43, and he is Māori. That really shouldn’t matter, but it does.
It is easy and cosy to say the best person should get the job, regardless of race (or age or sexual orientation - the list can go on).
But sometimes those things do matter, especially when you have a highly credible option who also happens to be Māori.
Former Black Ferns captain Dr Farah Palmer, one of the greatest women to pull on the black jersey, and a lecturer at Massey University was seen by many as the first choice to replace Impey, becoming in one go New Zealand Rugby’s first woman and Māori chair.
That might have been too much for many of rugby’s faithful to cope with - a woman and a Māori - and they need not worry because the three time World Cup winning skipper already has enough on her plate.
But rugby’s conservatives (and the game’s still disappointingly large group of racists) should hopefully have to get used to having the te reo fluent Mackey as their chairman in what looms as potentially one of the biggest shake-ups the game’s administration will ever face.
Mackey and Mitchell have a month to woo the newbies on the board, Northland’s Ajit Balasingham, and independent appointment Mark Hutton. Impey is standing down as chairman but, perhaps surprisingly, staying on the board for another year and is thought, with North Harbour’s Shaun Nixon - another accountant - to support Mitchell,
Mackey is believed to have the support of Palmer, Jennifer Kerr (who was appointed to the board at the same time as him last year) and Bart Campbell who some felt could be chairman but who lives in Melbourne.
Mitchell’s associates describe him as “socially conservative”, “a strong business leader” and “a rugby man”.
He’s from Christchurch’s Shirley Club, is in his late sixties and was a long serving director of the hugely successful Canterbury union and Crusaders Super Rugby franchise.
His NZR bio says: “Stewart is a qualified accountant and highly experienced strategic and human resource consultant. He has over 20 years' experience in various governance roles and has considerable experience working with councils and both private and public sector boards, across a broad range of industries.”
A Mitchell chairmanship will provide a steady-as-she-goes approach. But is that what rugby needs? Or does the game, which is struggling financially and to attract and retain young boys (the female game is flourishing) need a monumental shake up?
And could Mackey deliver that? And perhaps more importantly, is rugby ready for it?
A product of the East Coast, Mackey, was a midfield back or wing for the province in 1998 and 1999, and the union’s president before he joined NZR last year.
While he is relatively new to the board, that inexperience shouldn’t hide his ability or his business acumen.
Mackey founded Pango Productions which, among many other television credits, made the popular Match Fit program that put a group of former All Blacks through their paces under the eyes of former coach Sir Graham Henry and former captain Wayne Shelford.
Mackey is also the founder of tech startup and online production management tool KAHA, is the representative for the Creative sector on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council and in 2017 was named Māori Entrepreneur of the Year.
He calls Gisborne home but also lives in Auckland’s Grey Lynn.
So from an optics perspective, the choice is stark. Old, white accountant versus young, brown, TV maker and successful entrepreneur.
But, as one retired rugby official asked, should optics matter?
“Stewart isn’t brown, he doesn’t wear a skirt and he’s not under 50. Optics are important but you still need someone capable of leading the board,” he said.
He’s right, but it’s also true that you can’t aspire to be what you’ve never seen, so how can rugby talk about promoting diversity if they don’t walk that talk?
How can a game with such a huge contribution from Māori and Polynesian players continue to be run by middle aged white men, when there is, at long last, a genuine alternative?
Mackey ticks all the boxes. He has succeeded in business, he runs a company that directly employs 21 people but produces work that utilises many more.
He is a rugby man, still heavily involved in the game at its grassroots, and he walks in the many worlds that make up Aotearoa.
Impey was a high profile chairman who was approachable to media looking for context and content; and he wasn’t shy of providing ‘feedback’ when he felt he or NZR had been hard done by.
Mackey will be similar in that respect, but his youth and his Ngati Porou East Coast background will also bring a very different perspective to the NZR leadership.
New Zealand Rugby missed a chance to refresh the All Blacks when they failed to choose Scott Robertson as Sir Steve Hansen’s replacement.
It can’t make the same mistake again.
Rugby has, throughout its history, been run by white, middle aged or older, men.
That’s one of the few boxes Mackey doesn’t tick, which is why he has to be the next chairman.
