"Lookin' for answers in all the wrong places..."
"Lookin' for answers in all the wrong places..."
Gibson cut in NSW shake-up
Thursday, May 24, 2007, the Herald
NSW Rugby has dismissed its commercial and operations manager David Gibson, the Herald has learnt.
It is understood that members of the NSW board were advised of Gibson's fate in an email sent to them late on Tuesday night.
NSW Rugby would not comment on the issue when contacted by the Herald yesterday.
Gibson's exit is believed to stem from an ongoing internal review of NSW Rugby affairs after its union suffered their worst ever Super 14 season.
Rupert Guinness
Coaching ranks due for a shake-up
Coaching ranks due for a shake-up
Greg Growden
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Changes to the Waratahs' coaching panel are inevitable, but the NSW Rugby Union administration will not be restructured - despite claims leading officials were about to leave its Moore Park head offices.
The NSW rugby scene has been swirling with suggestions that, following the dismissal of Waratahs commercial and operations manager Dave Gibson last week, several other prominent administrators were about to leave the organisation.
NSWRU chairman Arvid Petersen said yesterday there was no truth to claims that other major Waratahs officials - including chief executive Fraser Neill - were departing.
Neill said yesterday he had no intention of leaving the Waratahs and was preparing for a series of meetings with Petersen to discuss strategy for next year's Super 14 campaign.
There have also been persistent rumours of divisions between NSWRU staff members, prompted by the Waratahs' poor Super 14 season in which they slumped from semi-finalists in 2006 to second-last this year. Failure on the pitch has also had a dramatic impact on the Waratahs' finances.
Petersen is eager to bolster the team's coaching structure, recently calling for the return of an attacking coach. While the position of head coach Ewen McKenzie is not under threat, he has been urged to build a stronger support team.
Petersen said a sub-committee, headed by NSW board member Ed Zemancheff, had been set up and was "conducting a pretty thorough review of Waratahs rugby".
"The coaching staff has simultaneously been conducting their own review, and are ready to report - hopefully by this week - on how they saw the season and what their recommendations are," Petersen said. "I want to wait to see what the coaching staff think the changes need to be before we decide what to do."
Petersen added that because of a dramatic slump in Waratahs home attendances, NSW were planning to "at best break even, or have a slight deficit".
"There is no doubt we have had quite a significant loss in revenue from the Waratahs," Petersen said. "You just had to look at the drop in crowd numbers, and we're probably $1.5-2 million off in revenue. So we were behind the eight ball.
"We have made cuts and changes, and some of the sponsorship money is coming in a little better than we hoped. So it's not going to be as bad as we may have thought three or four months ago. But we have to fix it."
