Terms of Reference for a Senate Inquiry into the Future of Rugby Union in Australia

[Bakkies]

Judging from today's announcement, I think the IRB is backing the ARU into a corner

Yep it is important that they provide a legacy for an Asian based RWC which is another reason to have a March to June 2019 start date. Competitions that went on during the last RWC were all over the place particularly with the kick off times. It really hit attendances.

[zimeric]

Jodi Hodgson is of the opinion that eligibility rules still being negotiated. At the very least Perths team will be allowed to recruit wallaby eligible players.. they are hoping have this expanded to other teams with further negotiations

[chrisk]

I think the ARU need to appreciate that the IPRC could be a tool for making the very best players Wallaby eligible, which would be the best chance of turning the Wallabies into the best team in the world. The ARU need to get over the politics of the situation, and appreciate that attracting the best players possible to be Wallaby eligible would be a good thing.

[GIGS20]

It's not politics, politics isn't personal.

Clyne is pissed at being made to look a fool and twiggy is busily proving why he didn't hire him

[lou]

I think the clock is winding down now - I imagine the submissions have been reviewed by the committee and they are making their recommendations. It is a nervous time. I keep checking and re checking. If it comes out Monday, it will be finalised by Friday I suppose. I used to think the WA folk had a chip on their shoulder about not being included in things, but the lack of any reporting on this by eastern states media is eye brow raising to say the least. I rate Senator Reynolds though, she seems solid and if there is something untoward to find, I have confidence she will find it, and make appropriate recommendations, and with nervous fingers tapping away at this keyboard, I will say it once, if she finds nothing, then I will just have to accept that and hold my peace.

[zimeric]

I'm of two minds on this Hearing. There's been a lot of shenanigans exposed but I'm nervous about how those shenanigans will be interpreted by the Senators and in turn what further actions will be recommended moving forward.
Best case scenario: it gets put forward to ASIC/ACCC for investigation (even then this may take years to get to the bottom of)
Worst case: they get a knuckle bashing and get told not to do it again and to play nice with all the states.... in which case nothing changes.

[Bakkies]

She will have to refer it otherwise they will be in breach of ethics. Not reporting insider trading and possible embezzlement is not a good look. If anyone is going to face embezzlement charges it will be Cox.

De Clyne and Pulver know they are in deep crap as they tried to divert the line of questioning away from the 'deals' and the Western Force.

[Hansie]

Personally I think our friends at RA will be in for a big surprise.

[Alison]

I think the clock is winding down now - I imagine the submissions have been reviewed by the committee and they are making their recommendations. It is a nervous time. I keep checking and re checking. If it comes out Monday, it will be finalised by Friday I suppose. I used to think the WA folk had a chip on their shoulder about not being included in things, but the lack of any reporting on this by eastern states media is eye brow raising to say the least. I rate Senator Reynolds though, she seems solid and if there is something untoward to find, I have confidence she will find it, and make appropriate recommendations, and with nervous fingers tapping away at this keyboard, I will say it once, if she finds nothing, then I will just have to accept that and hold my peace.

I’m with you Lou. The release of the Senate report is my line in the sand. I have to move on from it all for the sake of my sanity, and put all my energy and emotion into keeping club rugby going in WA until the IPRC kicks off in 2019.

[shasta]

It's not politics, politics isn't personal.

Clyne is pissed at being exposed as a fool as well a a very poor liar and twiggy is busily proving why he didn't hire him

Fixed.

I've said before I'm not confident any illegalities will be found. I also said before the senators started that I'd be happy just to see the ARU exposed for what they are. However now, if that's all we get I'll be disappointed. Hansie's comment gives me a little more hope.

[Bakkies]

Personally I think our friends at RA will be in for a big surprise.

More than just a bag full of red herrings mixed with manure?

[GIGS20]

She will have to refer it otherwise they will be in breach of ethics. Not reporting insider trading and possible embezzlement is not a good look. If anyone is going to face embezzlement charges it will be Cox.

OK, I've read every submission multiple times and heard all the public testimony and I'm not sure there will be a strong case for an embezzlement charge against Cox, He was given 6 Million dollars by the ARU with no directions or restrictions on how it might be spent. He did what he wanted with it and the ARU aren't chasing him.

I would think that the real embezzlement case would be against Clyne, Pulver, Clarke and Day assuming that they all hold units in the various trusts, that won't come out until ASIC launch an investigation.....which I'm sure will be actioned.

As I said, the chair (Senator Siewert) was trying to be the voice of impartiality and moderation, even she found it difficult and ripped into the ARU testimony a couple of times. I'm sure the recommendations will be pretty damning against the ARU, but that doesn't mean they will bring meaningful change, the ARU reviewed and changed it's board structure to make it more "independent" and "competent" selecting business people and experienced board members....look how that's gone, on the surface, everything looks above board, but they have seeded the board with myopic bottom feeders and the entire code is suffering as a result. They will be trying to implement every one of the recommendations of the inquiry without doing any harm to their power base, and therefore it'll be business as usual at the new Rugby 151st meridian of Longitude.

I wonder if there is any thought in the committee's mind of setting up an ombudsman office (I would expect it would be pointless unless it encompasses all sport) that oversees the operations of all national sporting bodies who have a community sports membership to ensure that no other sport gets crippled by the money making business again.

[jono]

I’m with you Lou. The release of the Senate report is my line in the sand. I have to move on from it all for the sake of my sanity, and put all my energy and emotion into keeping club rugby going in WA until the IPRC kicks off in 2019.

The same "lower tiers of rugby" in WA that you were "Sick to death" of back on the 16th August?

[zimeric]

Ombudsmen can be very successful in bringing about meaningful improvements but they can also get bloated and over utilised (just look at the telecoms Obudsman) I think it could be of benefit though

[Bakkies]

OK, I've read every submission multiple times and heard all the public testimony and I'm not sure there will be a strong case for an embezzlement charge against Cox, He was given 6 Million dollars by the ARU with no directions or restrictions on how it might be spent. He did what he wanted with it and the ARU aren't chasing him.

Cox had a web of companies, unit trusts and was receiving funds from the ARU which some of it came for the tax payer to finance his companies. Very little of it appeared to have gone in to Rugby. If the likes of Pulver, de Clyne, Clarke, etc had unit trusts than surely that counts as insider trading. This is to go with them underselling the Rebels to a businessman that was technically insolvent. The key person to unravel this is Peter Leahy who went in to camera as he was happy to provide testimony but not in front of the public.

The MRRU should have never received ARU annual funding plus extra un-budgeted funds while privately owned. The idea of the Rebels being privately owned was to finance themselves without putting financial strain on the ARU and the game of Rugby itself. Fine for the ARU to send money to the VRU for them to distribute for Victorian community Rugby but not the Rebels.

I'm sure the recommendations will be pretty damning against the ARU, but that doesn't mean they will bring meaningful change, the ARU reviewed and changed it's board structure to make it more "independent" and "competent" selecting business people and experienced board members....look how that's gone, on the surface, everything looks above board, but they have seeded the board with myopic bottom feeders and the entire code is suffering as a result.

Selected from a negotiation committee that features Mrs Buildcorp they don't sponsor the ARU anymore but they still sponsor Sydney Uni and Queensland Uni and friends of Sydney Uni who feature Roger Davis and Cameron de Clyne who have gunned for the Force.

I wonder if there is any thought in the committee's mind of setting up an ombudsman office (I would expect it would be pointless unless it encompasses all sport) that oversees the operations of all national sporting bodies who have a community sports membership to ensure that no other sport gets crippled by the money making business again.

Surely that's the role of the ASC who approved the ARU's structure? An ombudsman has to be an independent non Government entity.