Work with the system, not against
OCTOBER 12, 2018
Wayne Smith
Many years ago, back in the days when journalists were still welcome in the sheds after full-time, I was banned from the Wallabies dressing rooms by the then Australian coach Alan Jones as punishment for something I had written about his Wallabies.
If memory serves, I had suggested that “David Campese has scored more Test tries than he has made Test tackles”. OK, I concede now, that was probably too clever by half but given Campese had scored 64 tries in 101 Tests, I felt at the time this observation accurately summed up his varying contributions in attack and defence. But knowing Jones’ fearsome reputation, I knew there would be ramifications. And there were.
So I know that what I am about to write will probably bring a Jones firestorm down upon my head. So be it. A shame, really, because on so many issues where Australian rugby is concerned, Jones and I are in violent agreement.
I could start by suggesting that over time, we have both expressed dismay and outrage at decisions taken by Rugby Australia, or as it was formerly known, the Australian Rugby Union. Campaigns against former ARU chief executive John O’Neill and the ARU board over the Western Force culling had us both in the trenches, side by side.
The difference was that, in the case of the ARU’s decision to axe the Western Force, I could see the logic behind the board’s actions. I didn’t agree with it but I respected how honourable people with only the good of the game at heart could have arrived at the conclusions they did. So while I called for the resignations of chairman Cameron Clyne and then CEO Bill Pulver to act as a circuit-breaker, I did so reluctantly and with full respect for them as individuals.
It’s the same with Raelene Castle, the woman who has replaced Pulver as chief executive. I couldn’t care less whether she can tell the difference between a ruck and a maul — and just for interest sake, I’ve asked her and she knows. What matters to me is that, as a sports administrator, she makes sound, practical decisions that won’t send rugby broke. Because, as Jones tells us, the game is in desperate financial straits and the CEO has to keep the bottom line constantly in mind.
If she says the Wallabies defence seems deficient, she should not be rubbished by Jones for having an opinion.
There have been reasons to call into question some of the judgments she has made. The decision to lock Michael Hooper into a five-year deal when his continued selection at open side flanker, particularly post-Michael Cheika, is not a given was eyebrow-raising, at very least. But to suggest she should shut up and take orders from Cheika is just a tail-wagging-the-dog mentality.
Any sporting organisation that allows the national coach to set the agenda is doomed. A coach’s focus is the success of the national team, making sure everything is aligned to that cause. He doesn’t have responsibility for the bigger picture. But someone must. Three wins out of the past 11 Tests suggests everything is not proceeding according to plan and Castle, as the person placed in charge of running the sport on a daily basis, is entitled to ask questions.
It will be Castle who will be held to account if the Wallabies implode at the World Cup. She could lose her job; so, too, the board that put her there. Yes, Cheika would go but he’s flagged his departure. If Castle is to be held *accountable, she deserves to have a say.
Perhaps I am reading too much into his words and, if so, I apologise in advance. But it seems to me that when Jones says there are people on the board of Rugby Australia “who know nothing about rugby”, that’s code for saying “they wear a skirt”. No doubt there are male directors whose knowledge of the game he would also dispute but there is a clear and unmistakeable trend in his writing that suggests female members of the board have no right to be there, simply because they are women.
I don’t need to fight Ann Sherry and Pip Marlow’s battles for them. They have proven very capable of defending themselves, as indeed did Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron, who refused to buckle when confronted on air by Jones last week.
Considering that the Wallabies logo has been displayed on the sails of the Opera House in the past, I may have had mild sympathy for his cause — although, seriously, a barrier draw for a horse race? But I was appalled by the way Jones bullied her and threatened her job. And he is taking the same line with his interminable attacks on RA’s female board members. Enough already. Move on.
Jones rightly claims that rugby has for too long neglected its grassroots. Such neglect takes time to work its way through the system and it may be that the “top down” approach of past ARU boards is now coming home to roost in the inconsistent performances of the Wallabies. The only way that can be fixed is to start at the bottom again and work long and hard, as a lot of people are already doing.
Instead of setting up an Australian Club Rugby Association, have Jones and his fellow-founders Brett Papworth and Bob Dwyer considered there is another way? Work from within the system. Nominate for positions on the board of NSW or Queensland or Australia. No nominations committee would dare blackball you. There is already an organisation set up to get rugby going nationally. It’s called Rugby Australia. If it’s not working to your satisfaction, make it.
Let’s not forget where the last campaign designed to make Sydney’s Shute Shield the pre-eminent competition in Australia led … to the expulsion of the Force.
And let’s not forget that the National Rugby Championship is on the endangered list. Every other state considers the NRC to be a valuable tool, all save NSW where they can barely scrape together enough quality players to make up the Sydney Rays. Waratahs boss Andrew Hore on Thursday said the NRC was not being sabotaged from within. I suspect he was being diplomatic.
Everything in rugby is interconnected. And everyone is entitled to their opinion. A Grand Slam-winning, Bledisloe Cup-conquering Wallabies coach is certainly entitled to give us his. But, Alan, you are taking us back to the days of that US major who justified the shelling of Ben Tre during the Vietnam War by saying “it became necessary to destroy the town to save it”.
Your enthusiasm is to be marvelled at. Just be sure there is something left standing when you stop.