10
Just sent this off to her
Dear Raelene,
I am writing to you directly to express my concern over the state of Australian Rugby and the behaviour of key people in Rugby Australia, Cameron Clyne and Brett Robinson. Their behaviour has put Australian Rugby in bad light and is ruining the governing body's reputation within World Rugby. World Rugby are acutely aware of the destruction of the game in Australia led by Rugby Australia itself despite its duty to be the custodians of the game in Australia and responsibility for growing the game in the country, not shrinking it. A keen supporter of the game in Western Australia actually took it upon himself at his own expense to phone World Rugby directly to inform them of the state of the game that Rugby in Australia and the behaviour of the governing body in axing one of their own.
It is very rich of Brett Robinson to get a key individual within World Rugby Agustin Pichot to declare potential conflicts of interest when Rugby Australia is rife with it. I give you clear examples of these:
- Links to consulting firms that are tied relationship wise to Rugby Australia board members and directors. The current and former Chairman (Michael Hawker) of Rugby Australia, Saltbush Capital (who conducted one of the 13 reviews in the past six years) whose director Patrick Allaway is a member of the Friends of Sydney University Football Club along with Mr Clyne and Mr Hawker and the former board member John Eales' practice International Quarterback
- Relationships between Rugby Australia and the Melbourne Rebels that the other Australian Super Rugby sides and the Western Force certainly don't benefit from
- Ties that the current and former Chairman of Rugby Australia have with the Friends of Sydney University Football Club
- The so called independent Rugby Australia board nominations committee ties to the Friends of Sydney University Football Club and Sydney University Football Club major sponsor and also major sponsor of the Wallaroos, Buildcorp
- Executive directors that have other directorships while Chief of Executive Officer of Rugby Australia. I am not referring to yourself here, the individual I am targeting is John O'Neill whose leadership is largely responsible for the mess that Australian Rugby is in and continues to escape scrutiny from. Mr O'Neill had another directorship while he was paid a handsome salary to run Australian Rugby
Due to these potential conflicts of interest and their ongoing poor behaviour I call for the immediate resignation of Cameron Clyne and Brett Robinson. These two individuals are linked to the continuous obstruction towards to Andrew Forrest and the competition that he has introduced World Series Rugby. Due to the behaviour of Mr Clyne and Dr Robinson Andrew Forrest is now getting on with doing things his way with minimal ties to your organisation. World Series Rugby also primarily exists due to Mr Clyne's and Dr Robinson's role in the axing of the Western Force from the declining Super Rugby competition. Mr Forrest has also taken it upon himself to do Rugby Australia and the New South Wales Rugby Union's job in resuscitating the game in western Sydney who have lost their Shute Shield club the Penrith Emus earlier this year. Not only is Mr Forrest taking it on himself and likely at his own expense the game may actually thrive there with more than just a pulse.
These two individuals on behalf of Rugby Australia provided no competition for the Western Force to go in to so due to this they took away the principal revenue stream from Rugby WA. Due to this Rugby WA went in to voluntary administration and if it wasn't for people who have WA Rugby's interest at heart they would be in liquidation by now. Thus leaving the game in Western Australia with no administration body to run it and be responsible for the local senior competitions there. The behaviour of Rugby Australia has led to a 30% decrease in player registrations in the state this year.
As a supporter I have lost a lot of respect in John Eales and Brett Robinson they played a key role in bringing about the success of Australian Rugby in the late 90s and early turn of the century after struggling for a couple of years on and off the field. Now due to their association with the poor decision making and behaviour of Cameron Clyne and your predecessor Bill Pulver they are responsible for the destruction of the game in Australia.
Further to add Cameron Clyne showed utter contempt towards Alan Jones and the Barbarians Football Club last year. The Barbarians have a huge history and do a lot for supporting causes including the Lismore flood appeal. Whether you agree with Alan Jones or not he has done a lot more to put Australian Rugby on the map than Cameron Clyne and should be given a lot more respect. Due to this lack of respect it has given Alan Jones further ammunition to throw at your organisation. Alan Jones' Wallabies side gave Australian players belief that they can go out and beat the best and become champions. John Eales certainly benefited from that belief which he installed in the teams he was involved with.
Now there is another organisation that has caused a lot of damage to the game financially in Australia the Melbourne Rebels. Having looked at the available financials as the Melbourne Rebels' books haven't been accessible since 2015 I am deeply concerned at the amount of additional money that the national governing body has thrown at this organisation that has had private ownership since its birth. Now thanks to the assistance of Rugby Australia it was sold to the Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) for one dollar. The VRU certainly don't have the funds to pick up the mess that the Melbourne Rebels have been left in.
The money that the national governing body has thrown at the Melbourne Rebels is alarming and with the limited return from the Rebels private owners over their lifetime has affected Rugby Australia's bottom line and their ongoing ability to provide contributions to the game's grassroots. There has been a huge drop off in the development of the game's future in Australia. The 7s team has fluctuated, the Australian Schoolboys have struggled against New Zealand and the under 20s haven't made the Junior World Championship semi finals since 2011.
This has to be addressed as soon as possible rather than throwing money at the Melbourne Rebels and over paying players that are involved in the under achieving Wallabies team. The Melbourne Rebels must reveal a five year business plan that will highlight how they are going to remain sustainable in the future without causing strain to the national governing body and also to the detriment of its grassroots.
One of the reasons why New Zealand Rugby is so successful they place an importance on the game's development so they are constantly bringing through players to ensure the ongoing success of the All Blacks. The All Blacks bring through ready made young talent so they don't get effected by player departures due to retirement and overseas contracts. To the contrary Australian Rugby prefer to throw large sums of money that they don't really have at established players' salaries, this expenditure has led to an exodus of fringe players from Australian Rugby thus reducing the depth available for selection and spending a fortune on bringing back on contract ageing players from overseas. Last year Rugby Australia spent one million dollars on bringing back on contract players from abroad. Two players that Michael Cheika brought back from abroad in previous years have now decided to leave again after barely being selected by the national coach. One of those players required compensation to his employers at the time at the time Leinster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) to get out of his contract so he could be brought back to Australia.
For the game to move forward in Australia it needs the right individuals involved that have the game's interest at heart and rid itself of the toxic individuals who are tearing it apart.
Kind regards