0
Wayne Smith | March 27, 2009
Article from: The Australian
ON a day in which the Australian Rugby Union announced it was back in the black, the groundwork was laid yesterday for rugby to finally start accessing federal Government funding.
One of rugby's major stumbling blocks in securing funding through the Australian Sports Commission has been its archaic and undemocratic 1948 constitution which effectively allows NSW to ride roughshod over all the other stakeholders combined.
A 75 per cent majority is required before any change can be made to the constitution and with NSW commanding five of the 14 votes, it effectively wields the power of veto. Until rugby changes its governance structure, as football was forced to do, it will be hard-pressed to tap into the funding mainstream.
Ironically, while NSW used its numbers at the Australian Rugby Union's annual general meeting in Sydney yesterday to ensure its candidate for the ARU presidency, Ron Graham, won the election from former ARU chairman Dick McGruther, it also signalled it was prepared to look at a radical overhaul of governance structures at state and national level.
"When I was told what a handbrake our structures are to gaining Federal and State Government funding because of the perception that they are not as modern and contemporary as they need to be, that got my very sharp focus," NSWRU chairman Edwin Zemancheff said last night.
"It is absolutely appropriate that we, NSW, embark on a robust discussion about this in the interests of Australian rugby. I'm not saying NSW will give up its five votes. But rugby's performance compared to, say, soccer, in terms of securing government funding is not good and that's an issue we need to address."
The trick is that NSW will have to walk the tightrope of its own vested interests structure before any overhaul becomes possible. That means, for instance, that the delegates representing NSW Country, the sub-districts, the juniors and the Sydney clubs, all would need to refer the question back to their own constituencies to gain approval for reforms that might well reduce the influence of those stakeholders.
But while NSW held out hope yesterday that things might change in the future, it dug in deep to ensure three of the five constitutional changes proposed by the ARU board were defeated.
A strong rumour was circulating last night that a "Kirribilli House" deal was done before the meeting to ensure Graham served just two years of his allowable four as president, at which point apparently newly-elected vice-president McGruther would be elevated to the presidency.
Zemancheff, who had defied the Sydney clubs to ensure NSW voted as a bloc to guarantee Graham's election, would not comment on whether such a deal was done before the meeting. However, nor would he give an assurance that Graham would have NSW's support beyond 2011.
"At the end of the two years, we will judge Ron's performance and vote accordingly," he said.
ARU insiders last night were speculating that the defeat of McGruther and the failure of the board-sponsored resolutions to be approved by the annual general meeting constituted a deliberate shot across the bow of ARU chief executive John O'Neill, who allegedly did not want to work with Graham.
The best news by far to emerge from the AGM was that Australian rugby has recorded a surplus of $712,000 -- thanks mainly to the two Bledisloe Tests in Australia, the Hong Kong Test and the Wembley match against the Barbarians.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html
Reply With Quote
Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
Originally Posted by travelling_gerry
