O'Neill odds lengthen
Greg Growden
Sunday, April 29, 2007
NEW Australian Rugby Union chairman Peter McGrath said yesterday he was determined to find the best candidate to replace Gary Flowers as CEO - which would suggest the list could include John O'Neill.
But there appears no hope that O'Neill will reappear at the ARU, especially as McGrath - who at a reconvened board meeting yesterday was voted in unopposed as chairman to replace Ron Graham - has, sources say, been actively opposed to recalling the former Australian rugby boss.
O'Neill, who on Friday said he was no longer a candidate for any ARU position, could have easily been persuaded to return, but only if Arvid Petersen were the new chairman.
It is understood that O'Neill has no interest in working with McGrath.
The push for Western Force chief executive Peter O'Meara to take over from Flowers after he leaves on May 11 has intensified. The Perth official is understood to have a close alliance with McGrath.
The chances that former Brumbies CEO Rob Clarke will take the main position have also improved - especially as McGrath, a former ACTRU chairman, worked closely with him for many years.
The push for O'Neill to return to the ARU effectively ground to a halt yesterday when Petersen, the NSWRU's chairman, shortly before the vote opted against standing for the ARU chairman's position.
Petersen had been actively pushing for O'Neill to return to the ARU, but experienced overwhelming opposition from other board members, who wanted to follow an extensive process in finding a candidate.
This process would involve using a recruitment company and interviewing aspirants.
If Petersen were to be chairman, he wanted O'Neill as his CEO. But as the ARU board would not follow that line, with at least three directors before the vote actively demanding an "open and transparent process" for the CEO appointment, Petersen saw little point in standing against McGrath as chairman. "I was seeking the chairman's position on the condition that I had the support to bring John O'Neill in immediately," Petersen said later.
"I didn't get that support, so I did not nominate for the position.
"But I am now fully supportive of the process the ARU is involved in to find a CEO."
So McGrath, a 52-year-old Canberra lawyer, became the only candidate. Former Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove was appointed to the new role of vice-chairman.
"This is a fabulous honour, and I am working with a fabulous group of people," McGrath said.
"The skill sets around our board table are exceptional."
He added that he "didn't lobby at all" for the position and said the ARU would start searching tomorrow for a new CEO.
"We don't see the process as being necessarily long - and we do not exclude anyone from that process," he said.
Officials drop ball again
Comment by Peter Jenkins
April 29, 2007
THE Australian Rugby Union had the chance yesterday to carve a new way forward - and the most important men in the game dropped the ball cold.
This code that is unquestionably in crisis had a highly respected businessman prepared to take the chairmanship.
And, give it its due, the new-look board recognised the value Arvid Petersen would bring.
He convincingly had the numbers to be the fresh and progressive leader of the ARU.
That is, he had support until raising the name of John O'Neill.
Petersen, a new director with no baggage who had slammed the previous ARU administration for lacking leadership, wanted O'Neill as part of his two-man ticket to revitalise the game.
He told fellow directors the country's leading sports administrator had to be appointed immediately, that there was no need for a search because rugby was already stagnating on and off the field.
Petersen argued it could not afford to be bogged down in the search for a successor to Gary Flowers, who leaves on May 11.
The board members listened, but they obviously did not hear. They refused Petersen's condition and he promptly walked away.
So the ARU lost out on its first-choice chairman for refusing his call - a plea - for an O'Neill-led recovery.
Peter McGrath was the only other candidate and was duly installed.
At a press conference later, McGrath revealed that a headhunting firm will now be brought in tomorrow to help find the next chief executive.
McGrath stressed - on three occasions - that "no one will be excluded".
That includes O'Neill apparently. But The Sunday Telegraph has been told by impeccable sources that McGrath privately and vehemently opposed any comeback for O'Neill in the lead-up to the meeting.
If that is the case, McGrath should declare it in the name of good corporate governance - perhaps give the reasons why - and not take part in the process for appointing Flowers' replacement.
This board is big on political correctness.
Former director Terry Jackman was shafted for allegedly speaking to The Daily Telegraph.
Petersen could not get O'Neill appointed because the correct procedure was a full-blown search.
Yet influential figures admit he is easily the best candidate.
Interestingly, there has been a very public face to the Get O'Neill Back campaign. But when it comes to the anti-O'Neill forces, only former Wallaby centre and Queensland director Dick Marks has been prepared to speak out.
Others have done it from the shadows.
And, for that, the game has suffered.
The question now is who will be the next CEO and will they, in tandem with McGrath, stack up against what could have been - Petersen and O'Neill?
