Devoid of care culture RA digs itself deeper  ALAN JONES
“The first law of Holes is an adage which states that “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”.
Cameron Clyne and Raelene Castle still don’t seem to understand that digging a hole makes it deeper and therefore harder to get back out.
The expression is a metaphor that when, in an untenable position, it is best to stop carrying on and making the situation worse.
Am I the only person imploring Rugby Australia to stop digging?
In the wake of the inability of Rugby Australia to reach agreement through a Fair Work Commission conciliation hearing last Friday, Cameron Clyne finally broke cover, speaking to what he believed would be a sympathetic journalist at Nine newspapers.
He argued how offended he was that people would dare to suggest that Rugby Australia’s decision-making would be influenced by sponsors.
But in the first two paragraphs of the story in which Clyne made his debut on the Folau affair, he argued that he wanted to make it clear that if they hadn’t taken this action against Folau, they wouldn’t have had any sponsors.
Is this man a complete fool or does he think we are?
He must have thought he would grow hairs on his chest by saying that the administration had no option but to sack Israel Folau.
And then this, “(the alternative) would be that we would have no sponsors at all because no sponsor has indicated they would be willing to be associated with social media posts of that sort and that includes government because we have also heard from them … We would also potentially be in litigation with employees who are gay and who would say we are not providing a workplace that is safe or respectful.”
You get the picture! The hole gets deeper.
Any number of legal entities have argued that Clyne has just opened yet another legal avenue for the very smart outfit representing Israel Folau.
Put simply, if Rugby Australia breached its contract with Folau, were sponsors a powerful and influential force behind the breach?
As this newspaper reported last Monday, Sydney barrister Jeffrey Phillips SC — who specialises in employment law — told The Australian that, “having read Mr Clyne’s comments, there was a real possibility of another legal Ave for Folau’s team. He suggested that if Rugby Australia breached its contract with Folau by sacking him, then sponsors induced that breach of contract.”
Jeffrey Phillips was quoted as saying, “If it be the case that sponsors or even the government, has placed any pressure on Rugby Australia to terminate his contract, then that raises prospects of interference with contractual relations and aspects of Australian Competition and Consumer Law, in particular, Section 45D, dealing with secondary boycotts.”
May I speculate that if sponsors were concerned with what Rugby Australia might or might not do in relation to their best player quoting the Bible outside the workplace, then they must surely now be on the hotline to Clyne and Co asking legitimately why Clyne has opened his mouth and dragged them into this unseemly mess.
An outstanding editorial in this paper on Tuesday argued accurately, “Support for freedom of speech is tested only when you defend its use by someone with whom you disagree.”
But, in a telling and pointed observation, the editorial argued succinctly, “Did Rugby Australia examine Folau’s bookshelf when it recruited him to play rugby? Of course not and why would any sensible person assume that a player’s social media post represents not only his team, but Rugby Australia and all its corporate sponsors. And how exactly did an Instagram post, composed of words long familiar from the best-known book of our civilisation, render the RA workplace ‘unsafe’.”
Of course, Clyne and Castle talk about diversity and inclusiveness, yet they exclude Israel Folau because someone, unknown, outside Rugby Australia, disagrees with his Christian beliefs.
The response from “quiet Australians” demonstrates quite clearly that not only are corporations and sporting administrations out of step with community values, but also, they are appropriating to themselves the mantle of moral custodians which in itself is an exercise in arrogance and self-importance.
Greg Jones of Kogarah wrote tellingly this week, “Rugby Australia created this fiasco when its administrators decided to align with one side in the campaign for marriage equality. Sexuality and marriage have absolutely nothing to do with rugby, or aviation for that matter, and professional sports codes and corporates are not elected or appointed to promote partisan social values or political objectives. When Rugby Australia stepped outside its remit, it knowingly campaigned against the values and standards of some of its players who it then banned from participating in the same debate.”
Not that you would know it, when confronted by the all-consuming incompetence of our rugby administration, but the Crusaders look set to take out their third consecutive Super Rugby title.
We have much to learn, not just in the Folau affair, but in rugby in general from this franchise. There is a reason why they’ve won nine of the 13 Super Rugby finals they have played in since the game went professional in 1996.
There is a reason they have only missed the playoffs five times in 23 seasons.
What happens with the Crusaders on the paddock is a matter for another column; and much deserves to be said. But this success comes when people genuinely care for one another and the Crusaders’ man management is spot on.
I used to challenge my Wallabies with the rhetorical question, “How will you know when we are genuinely a team?”
I would then answer for them my own question. “You’re a team when you line up for the kick-off and you know that you would like the person either side of you to be the godfather to your children.”
Who in Rugby Australia cultivates this culture of care?
We know the Folau story. Well, what about the Sevu Reece story?
At the beginning of the season, the Crusaders gave a lifeline to this young Fijian winger. He had been involved in a domestic violence incident. He was run out of the North Island of New Zealand and had a contract in Europe torn up.
The Crusaders gave him a last chance.
In the space of a few months, Sevu Reece has become a sensation on the wing. I have no doubt that one day soon, he will be an All Black.
This doesn’t happen by chance. His life has been turned around because the leadership of the Crusaders offered compassion, care and a new discipline.
Early in May this year, two of their backs were accused in South Africa of misconduct. I understand they were out late, drinking. The matter was quickly dealt with by the Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby. The two organisations responded superbly. There was contrition on one side and compassion on the other.
The coach Scott Robertson summed it up, “We have good people and we will support them.” He backed his team’s culture.
Folau is a very good person, abandoned.
We have people playing rugby league and rugby union in this country who have abused women, traded in drugs, stripped naked on pub balconies, gouged players’ eyes, have driven vehicles when drunk — they continue to play.
A young Polynesian Christian quotes from his Bible and he is banned for life.
The great thing about our Anzac brothers across the ditch is that they responded in the cases cited above with consideration and consistency.
The young men the Crusaders dealt with were known to be good citizens, so they were forgiven. No dramas. I am certain the rugby public barely knew. It is this kind of management, tough love, that produces the results that are now identified with the Crusaders. It’s called leadership.
There is very little at the top of Australian rugby that commends itself. The chairman is an ex-banker who has shown his true colours in the way he “managed” the Force fiasco and the coaching restructure. Stephen Larkham became the fall-guy for the worst Wallabies season in living memory. The Board is a reflection of the Chairman. Political correctness is well and truly alive at Rugby HQ.
We raced to be the first football code to have a female CEO. Nothing wrong with a female CEO. But more in depth due diligence would have suggested this was not the person and so we see the Israel Folau matter handled appallingly.
The administration keep digging the hole.
Where the Crusaders have been calm, measured and proportional, Castle acted with haste and no proportionality. Rub your best player out for life.
Folau, a Pentecostal Evangelical Christian, quoted from the Bible and apparently upset a sponsor.
He has received zero support from Rugby Australia or the Waratahs. Instead, they want to persecute him and run him out of the game so they can keep Qantas on the front of the Wallaby jersey.
Miranda Devine, writing for The Daily Telegraph, summed it up best when she said recently, “Clyne is in a battle he doesn’t understand and is too arrogant to realise that corporate Australia doesn’t decide on morality for the rest of us … now the Australian Christian Lobby has joined the battle and quiet Australians have been roused to donate $2m in one day to Folau’s legal defence. Clyne is outgunned. All he has left is to whinge that he has done nothing wrong. The only way the mess can be resolved is with a complete clean-out of Rugby Australia and a quick settlement with Folau. Then rugby can get back to the only battle that matters in sport, the game.”
Spot on. Exactly what the rugby family are saying. But then, when has this Board, in recent memory, represented the rugby family?”
