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Force sues former staffer over alleged leaks
Gerard Ryle and Jacquelin Magnay; SMH | November 23, 2007
The Australian Rugby Union has failed to act on serious allegations of assault, potential financial irregularities and that a bizarre witch-hunt was conducted against a suspected whistleblower at the Western Force Super 14 club.
The allegations involving the Force were detailed in information put to the ARU last week and follow raids on a private business and the home of a former Force employee.
The raids were conducted after the Force searched computer records of some employees in a failed attempt to learn if anyone leaked information to the Herald about serious wrongdoings at the club. The club then obtained search warrants for the home and new workplace of a former employee and began civil legal action against him.
Western Force officials initially vehemently denied stories in the Herald earlier this year that outlined more than $300,000 in secret payments that were made to Wallabies players last year in breach of the governing body's protocols.
After being confronted by the ARU, the club admitted guilt and was fined $150,000. The secret payments dated back to the formation of the club, when it tried to recruit top-line players.
A lawyer from Freehills in Perth, Dan Dragovic, acting for the former Force employee, yesterday said: "Rugby WA [The Western Force] is suing my client. They are alleging that he breached certain obligations of confidentiality they say were owed to them, and we have denied those allegations."
The allegations of assault and potential financial irregularities were made separately to the ARU and do not form part of the civil action. The allegations were made by the suspected whistleblower after he went to the ARU for help.
ARU deputy chief executive Matt Carroll said he received pieces of information from the man verbally, but that details needed to be on the record and in writing before the ARU would take action.
But Carroll said: "I have no details, documents, or information … unless they are under investigation by the police, but I don't know details of the activities that have occurred. He didn't come forward as a whistleblower to the ARU, he merely told us … that the Western Force is taking legal action and the other matters were an issue for the police, and therefore that is where it should rest."
Carroll said there had been no meetings scheduled with the Force over the allegations, but said the ARU was continuing to monitor player contracting issues with the club. The ARU was waiting for the Force's internal audit on its player contracts, to be submitted to the ARU by mid December.
"We can ask for further details if we are not satisfied with the response they provide," Carroll said.
The Force made the secret payments to three Wallabies players in 2006 and possibly as late as January 2007, despite the club's protesting that the payments related only to its inaugural season.
Nathan Sharpe was paid about $200,000, Scott Fava about $80,000 and Cameron Shepherd about $20,000. Former player Chris O'Young was guaranteed the club would find him outside employment worth about $20,000, and he earned most of that in a job secured for him by the Force.
Although the deals breached ARU protocols, there is no suggestion the players were aware of any potential breach. Under the protocols, teams are generally allowed to pay players $110,000 a year, in addition to a set of agreed extras such as cars and housing allowances. Internationals also receive additional wages from the ARU.
Furthermore, no state union is to be involved in facilitating, procuring or arranging third-party deals as an inducement to sign a player without ARU approval.
But during early 2005 the Force recruited several players and guaranteed to find them paid employment, outlining the income players would receive. The club guaranteed to pay the players if the employment fell through, which is what occurred.
The money was hidden in the Super 14 club's annual accounts and did not appear as "player payments", even though it was paid to three Wallabies on the Force's books.
The Western Force's ability to attract star players has long drawn suspicion from the ARU and other Super 14 clubs. It has been central to the team's rapid improvement. The club rose from wooden spooners in their first year to the second most successful Australian team last season.
But the payments also had an adverse effect at the Western Force, where several employees have been made redundant during the past 12 months as the club struggles to find broad support in AFL-obsessed Perth.
Typical SMH pedigree there KQ
Looks like another couple of customers for the Pie Cart!
C'mon the![]()
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Ah, Mr Ryle crawls out from under his stone once again. Try looking closer to home if you want to write about the parlous state of Australian provincial rugby.
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!!
Struggling to find broad support? Are they having a laugh? How many times has the ARU had to bail our the Waratahs over the years for risk of going under?
You are quite righ GIGS20 same pedigree. Drudge up anything 'bad' the Force has done over the last two years and tack them into a flimsy article with an incredibly vague (even by SMH) pretext. There is a good reason its only the Herald that prints that rot.
i dont know how they say we struggle to fins support when we have higher attendance numbers at games than all eastern state games and its not like we struggle to find sponsors
Raids? They make it sound like a drug bust...ffs...talk about creative writing. This article could almost be considered defamatory with some of its statements.
What is amusing though is that the article specifically states that the club obtained search warrants. Search warrants aren't issued for the hell of it. It is actually pretty hard to obtain them due to issues of privacy. There needs to be fairly significant grounds to begin with. Same deal with initiating litigation, particularly for a multi-million dollar sports club who are more likely to settle disputes with large payouts so the matter is swept under the carpet rather than drag the clubs name through the media and the courts. Litigation is an expensive and lengthy process and more often than not the outcome doesn't rectify the damage that is caused along the way. I can't imagine RugbyWA wanting to drag this stuff up again after its finally been laid to rest, and with the focus now being on a new super 14 season, without good reason or a good prospects for success. Hence why I also think Force1...i mean...the suspected whistleblower....didn't receive a positive response from the ARU.
Don't think i need to say much about the ridiculous comments about the support for Rugby over here...you guys have it covered...
Good lawyer...he must have some money somewhere. Dan's a partner at Freehills and is currently involved in the largest commercial litigation matter in Western Australian legal history...this is right up his alley.
BAH! What a ridiculous piece of journalism...I'd be sacking his editor...![]()
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau."
and the writers...
Ah yes but you can pin that down to 'helping out a mate'
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau."
So the unamed sauces will soon be named....that will be an interesting edition of SMH.
Do you think Force1 will turn up again to defend himself.........if of course it is/was him to begin with!
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bah humbug.. SMH sports writers/editors should be ashamed of themselves.
why don't we just settle this the right way...
on the field!!! if NSW really think they are superior in everything rugby lets see what happens when the Tahs come to perth next year!
i'm not too sure if the force is actually struggling to find fans in Perth. I think from my recollections, we have one of the best fan support in the Super 14, let alone an Australian team. Just ask any visiting team and they'll agree with it. (See Tana Umaga's comments after the Force's first home win) And i think of the ARC, we're actually doing a lot better than the other states, as the West Australian's article today said.
I think the SMH crew and basically the state of NSW and other eatern states who doubt us need to HTFU. I say, best way to prove them wrong is to get in the finals next year and beat the other Aussie teams.
Perhaps, but we probably do struggle to be heard in the crowd - there is more reporting of soccer than rugby (although that is perhaps seasonal too). It is definitely our problem on the stadium issue, and what about the weak effort made by the ABC in WA for the ARC? It is hard to argue a strong support base when we can't compete to be heard over the WAFL.