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AAP
February 24, 2015, 7:06 am
Super Rugby champions the NSW Waratahs finally have a new chief executive - Greg Harris, the CEO of the Rugby Union Player's Association.
Harris will leave the players' union to start with the Waratahs on March 2, five months after current CEO Jason Allen announced his decision to step down.
Waratahs chairman Roger Davis praised the credentials of Harris and emphasised his potential in the keys areas of player recruitment and retention.
"It would be fair to say that his skills, networks and previous roles are unique in the broader Australian sporting landscape, but particularly with respect to rugby," said Davis.
"His previous roles as CEO of RUPA, the Western Force and Sydney University Sport provide him with a wide range of expertise across both the commercial and high performance components of the business.
"In particular his extensive experience and skills in the areas of player contracting, welfare and recruitment which are at the heart of the game today, namely attracting, developing and retaining the code's best rugby players."
Harris has spent the last four-and-a-half years at the helm of the Rugby Union Players' Association.
Prior to his position at RUPA, Harris' roles have included CEO of the Western Force and Rugby WA (2008-2009) and Executive Director of Sydney University Sport (1992-2008).
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...-chief-harris/
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Good timing with the post World Cup player exodus. As I recall, his specialty is negotiating the departure of high profile players from Super Rugby clubs.
Well he's been running (almost typed ruining) the Waratahs and Australian rugby for years now so might as well make it official.
This is the bloke who who had the foresight to tell the WAFC to stick spewbiaco up their ass and got us a proper rectangular stadium
C'mon the![]()
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Bit harsh considering the Firepower handicap he had at the time plus he also had some quite serious personal issues to deal with in his time here. Did better then Vern Reid anyway. Considering the amount of money the players were owed no one could have done much to stem the tide.
There are 3 types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't
I just remember how he muscled into the Coaches box towards the end. Chiek will LOVE that.!
Super Rugby season 2015: New NSW CEO Greg Harris plans to follow Queensland blueprint
NEW chief executive Greg Harris plans to build on Michael Cheika’s work and take the Waratahs to new levels but, in an interesting twist, will use their oldest enemy Queensland as a benchmark.
Harris was yesterday announced as the replacement for departed Tahs CEO Jason Allen and the experienced sports administrator will finish up his role running the Rugby Union Players Association and begin next Monday.
“To be perfectly honest, I think Cheik has developed a culture within the place himself, so it is not up to me to go in and reinvent the wheel. It’s to look at what’s there and then say: “How can that be improved on?”,” Harris said.
The sudden news of Harris’ appointment still reflected the urgency around his recruitment by the Waratahs and NSW Rugby, however, who’d held off over summer due a potential private equity takeover.
That didn’t eventuate, however, and after recently grasping the need to bypass a lengthy recruitment process, the Tahs approached Harris and did a deal last week.
It was received well yesterday. Harris is hard-nosed and has a proven pedigree in sport, with experience in almost every professional footy code in Australia.
He was the Western Force chief executive in 2008, built up the leading Sydney Uni sports program, was once a chairman of selectors and under 19 coach of the Sydney Swans and played rugby league for Cronulla in the 1970s.
The background will be valuable to hit the ground running at the Waratahs, who’ve suffered from corporate inertia since winning Super Rugby in a blaze of hype in August last year.
Harris said he would look north as an example of how a trophy can be transformed into long-term success.
“There are challenges there, without a doubt, to secure what they (the Waratahs) have established but also there is a long way to go to get to some of the KPIs that the Reds have achieved, with their memberships and some of their communication areas. In rugby, they are probably market leaders in a number of areas,” Harris said.
“One of the difficult thing with the Tahs, and this is no criticism of anyone involved whatsoever, is that after their success there’s been a lot of focus on the private equity venture. Probably that’s taken up a fair amount of focus and resources. It hasn’t come to fruition, and I am not in a position to comment on that, but hopefully that hasn’t detracted on the capacity of the club to capitalise on its success.”
Queensland won in 2011 but still consistently turn profits and had 58,000 members last season.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/s...-1227237649496
Alternate Headline.
New NSWRU CEO plans to get the ARU to pay for his professional players salaries.
C'mon the![]()
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