0
I don't know why or what it is but I just have an uneasy feeling about all of this...
Union prepares for tumultuous vote
By Jon Geddes
April 16, 2007
AUSTRALIA coach John Connolly maintains the Rugby World Cup is still within the Wallabies' reach later this year - despite New South Wales and Queensland sitting at the foot of the Super 14 table and Western Force conceding 117 points in its past two outings.
But those on-field struggles and the "don't worry, be happy" reaction at the national level seem typical of proceedings behind the scenes.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive Gary Flowers has constantly denied the game is in trouble in Australia, and his board of directors agreed last year when they handed him a full bonus, lifting his salary to $660,000.
Australian rugby, however, is facing a major fork on the road.
Super 14 crowds have slumped; sponsors have expressed reservations over the lack of leadership at the ARU; the financial viability of the third-tier national competition due to kick off this season is under question; and there are growing concerns about the impact of third-party endorsements on player salaries.
While Connolly's day of judgment is on hold until the Rugby World Cup in France in September and October, for ARU bosses it arrives on Thursday, when union's annual general meeting will be the most important in the game's recent history.
Current chairman Ron Graham is standing down, and the two men in line to replace him are NSW Rugby Union chairman Arvid Petersen, who will be inducted as a director the same day, and long-serving board member Peter McGrath.
If Petersen wins the vote, Flowers is almost certain to be removed as chief executive within days. Petersen has made no secret of his concerns over the lack of leadership at the ARU.
McGrath, however, represents the establishment; he is a core Flowers supporter.
The fact that the NSW and Queensland union boards, in seeking a new way forward for the game in Australia, believe Petersen is the man to bring a sense of unity represents another potential time bomb as McGrath, if he wins the chairmanship, will not have the backing of the two major states and the current bickering is likely to continue.
The voting numbers are believed to remain tight.
The Petersen camp at first thought he held at least a 5-3 majority, but speculation from other areas suggests the voting is now locked at 4-4.
Flowers - the ninth board member - says he will not vote in the election process.
The chairman usually has the deciding vote in a deadlocked ballot, but Graham will have resigned from the board. A director may then have to be appointed to preside over the meeting, but there will likely be a scrap over such an appointment if the directors is deemed to have the casting vote.
"They might have to adjourn and then reconvene to vote again," a leading ARU source said.