Reduced board for milestone meeting

[Darren]

ON the eve of today's milestone Australian Rugby Union board meeting to decide Australia's candidate for the Super 15 expansion licence, World Cup-winning former Wallabies second-rower Rod McCall has stood down as a director.

The ARU constitution precludes directors from also holding a position with a state union which means McCall, appointed last week as the new chairman of the Queensland Rugby Union, had to resign.

When state officials are appointed to the ARU board, they customarily are granted several months to divest themselves of their state responsibilities, but an ARU spokesman said last night the same leeway is not granted in the case of a director moving in the opposite direction to take up a state appointment.

Although Queensland has nominated the man McCall beat for the QRU position, Dick McGruther, to take his place on the board, his appointment needs to be ratified by a general meeting of ARU delegates, which will not happen before today's board meeting.

The implication of McCall's resignation is that today's board shrinks from nine members to eight to hear the presentations of the rival VRU and VicSuper15 consortiums bidding for the right to set up Australia's fifth Super rugby franchise in Melbourne in 2011 -- assuming SANZAR awards the new team to Australia.

The ARU management two weeks ago recommended the VicSuper15 consortium, backed by Sydney mining identity Kevin Moloney, be given the licence, with the VRU to have no involvement other than a seat on the board.

It was expected that the ARU board would endorse management's decision but surprisingly the matter was deferred until today, although it is understood an informal gathering of board members in Brisbane last weekend for the Springboks Test discussed developments.

Despite issuing a media statement on September 1 announcing that discussions had been deferred until today, the ARU yesterday refused to release any details of what will take place at today's meeting, insisting it would not play the bid process out in the media.

However, the fact that there are now only eight directors -- chairman Peter McGrath, chief executive John O'Neill, General Peter Cosgrove, John Mumm, Michael Hawker, Ric Lee, Mike Brown and players' representative Mark Connors -- creates the possibility of today's deliberations ending in a 4-4 deadlock.

In that event, McGrath, as chairman, would have the casting vote. It could well be the most significant vote of his career, with the state unions taking careful note of today's outcome.

The threat of an extraordinary meeting being called by the states before Australia's official Super 15 nominee has to be decided on September 25 remains real.

Claims by the VicSuper15 consortium that it has strong grassroots ties to Victorian rugby, meanwhile, were challenged yesterday when the presidents of 20 bodies affiliated with the VRU signed a letter to McGrath stating the VicSuper15 consortium did not have their support.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html

[Burgs]

"eight directors.....John Mumm" Hmmm, that may explain something that has had my wondering...

"Claims by the VicSuper15 consortium that it has strong grassroots ties to Victorian rugby, meanwhile, were challenged yesterday when the presidents of 20 bodies affiliated with the VRU signed a letter to McGrath stating the VicSuper15 consortium did not have their support."
IMHO that should be enough to sound the death knell for the VS15 bid. Hardly a good starting position if you don't have the support of the grass roots at the outset.
Personally I still have issues with one franchise having a different structure to the other four and, while there is a VRU then it should be supported. As I mentioned before, if there are problems at the VRU then treat the cause not the symptoms.

[GIGS20]

What does Eebs have to say about it?

are the 20 'bodies' actual clubs or sponsors whou could be bought with corporate packages etc?

what percentage of the Victorian grassroots rugby community is represented by those 20 bodies?

Still stacks of questions about this, the only thing that's certain in my mind is the shitfight's not good for the image of the game. I hope to God a resolution comes from todays meeting and it's explained transparently and reasonably.

waiting for the flying pigs to appear