O'Neill's future is a major event
WHISPERS are growing louder about the future of rugby boss John O'Neill as NSW Major Events chairman.
O'Neill's board has copped a pounding of late, particularly for lucking out on Tiger Woods and backing the Australian Open golf over the Sydney Telstra 500 street race last weekend.
Woods' decision to play in Melbourne was excusable because his management group, IMG, also runs the Australian Masters.
But sources close to Macquarie St say the board's spectacular misreading of the hugely popular V8 Supercars event could be its undoing. New Premier Kristina Keneally had barely been sworn in before she trekked to Olympic Park on Saturday to be part of a stunning 185,000-strong roll-up. NSW Events falls under the premier's watch, and Keneally has already held a string of conversations with V8s chairman Tony Cochrane - one of O'Neill's most strident critics.
The ARU's rival football codes are also gunning for O'Neill's head. NRL administrators are constantly at pains to point out his conflict of interest as chairman of both boards, and fear Sydney could lose the Grand Final to Brisbane after 2012 as a result.
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