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Thread: 'Been sick for years': Wallabies great savages Rugby Australia 'train smash'

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    'Been sick for years': Wallabies great savages Rugby Australia 'train smash'

    Yahoo sport reporting former players calling out the RA for being in this position for years, now trying to use COVID19 to weasel themselves out of debt.

    'Been sick for years': Wallabies great savages Rugby Australia 'train smash'

    Sam Goodwin
    Sam Goodwin
    Yahoo Sport Australia
    1 April 2020, 11:00 am
    Raelene Castle speaks to the media in Sydney. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
    Raelene Castle speaks to the media in Sydney. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
    Rod Kafer has launched an extraordinary critique of Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle, calling for a major overhaul of the governing body’s management in the face of a $120 million crisis.

    Three quarters of Rugby Australia's staff will be stood down for the next three months and the remainder retained on drastically reduced salaries as the code braces for a potential $120 million hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.


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    RA chief executive Castle announced what was described as “the toughest decision in the game's history” on Tuesday after meeting with Rugby Union Players' Association (RUPA) boss Justin Harrison.

    New Zealand Rugby staff haven't taken the same hit as their Australian counterparts, agreeing to a 20 per cent pay cut across the board.

    “When the CEO comes out and says we’re looking down a $120 million hole — how did we find ourselves in that position?” former Wallaby Kafer said on Fox Sports News on Wednesday.

    “How does a board allow the game to get into that position? We know rugby was sick a long time before the coronavirus came along. Rugby has been sick for years.


    “People have been calling for change and it hasn’t occurred. And yet the same people who have taken it off the cliff are still there, still employed.”

    Castle, who will take a 50 per cent pay cut, said she'll ensure staff stood down would have access to “whatever government support is available” and that talks with RUPA were ongoing to reach an “appropriate” agreement on player salary reductions.

    Harrison said RUPA had been waiting three weeks to see detailed financial information he hoped would be presented in the near future to expedite the process.

    Kafer, who played 12 Tests for Australia before moving into the media and working for RA in elite coaching development, said Castle should be taking a bigger pay cut.

    “She’s gone down to $400,000 a year — more than 95 per cent of all players in the game with her salary sacrifice,” Kafer said. “I mean, something’s wrong.”

    “Taking the game to the point of insolvency is what this management team and board have done.

    “It is time for drastic change. The rugby community, the players, everybody who has sat around and watched this train smash over the last few years and has called for change — now is the time to demand change.”

    Rod Kafer in action for the Wallabies in his heyday. Image: Getty
    Rod Kafer in action for the Wallabies in his heyday. Image: Getty
    About 100 Rugby Australia staff stood down
    About 100 of the estimated 140-strong RA workforce have been stood down from Wednesday until May 1, when they would return if Super Rugby resumes and July's Test program against Ireland and Fiji is given the green light.

    Australia's Super Rugby clubs in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne hope to lean on the government's recently-announced JobKeeper scheme or any other available benefits as they scale back their operational costs and staff levels in a similar manner.

    Castle said additional help from World Rugby and individual state governments would also ensure grassroots rugby could continue once it is safe to return to the field.

    “Today we have had to deliver the hardest news imaginable to our incredible, hard-working and passionate staff, that many of them will be stood down for a three-month period so that the game can survive this unprecedented crisis,” she said.

    “We could lose up to $120 million in revenue should it not be possible for any rugby to be played in 2020.

    Rod Kafer as Saracens head coach in 2004. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
    Rod Kafer as Saracens head coach in 2004. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
    “Of course, that is the worst case scenario, and we are very hopeful that we can recommence the Super Rugby season and domestic Wallabies Test matches at some point this year.

    “The measures we will implement from April 1, although extremely painful, are necessary to ensure the sport remains financially viable and to ensure that we are able to come out the other side of this global crisis, fully-operational and ready to throw everything into the rebuild.”

    The announcement comes a day after RA reported a provisional loss of $9.4 million in 2019 and hours after USA Rugby confirmed it will file for bankruptcy.

    RA had last Friday announced a makeshift five-team domestic competition featuring a Western Australian outfit to fill the void when international travel ended normal Super Rugby fixtures.

    That was swiftly postponed until at least May 1, with a think tank now set to be formed to assess what professional rugby may look like in Australia in the short and long-term future.

    with AAP

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    Kafer, who played 12 Tests for Australia before moving into the media and working for RA in elite coaching development, said Castle should be taking a bigger pay cut.

    “She’s gone down to $400,000 a year — more than 95 per cent of all players in the game with her salary sacrifice,” Kafer said. “I mean, something’s wrong.”

    “Taking the game to the point of insolvency is what this management team and board have done.
    About 100 of the estimated 140-strong RA workforce have been stood down from Wednesday until May 1, when they would return if Super Rugby resumes and July's Test program against Ireland and Fiji is given the green light
    Incredible... she has become a disease for rugby. A greedy money grubbing disease in Clyne and Pulvers shadow

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    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    I suspect we’ll never get to see the 2019 accounts.

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    Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    FFS. Kafer trying to go from lap dog to attack dog. Failing at both.

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    "The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David


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    Veteran Ecky's Avatar
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    Perhaps he should have resigned in protest; shortly after having been appointed?

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    "...On the same day Wallabies great Rod Kafer delivered a scathing assessment of Castle and her executive team’s performance..."

    In whose mind is Kafer a "Wallabies great"? He doesn't appear in my top 50 list of great players who have played for the Wallabies.

    Hey: I just thought of a new thread

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecky View Post

    Hey: I just thought of a new thread
    Great idea. Go on then.

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    "The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David


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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecky View Post
    "...On the same day Wallabies great Rod Kafer delivered a scathing assessment of Castle and her executive team’s performance..."

    In whose mind is Kafer a "Wallabies great"? He doesn't appear in my top 50 list of great players who have played for the Wallabies.

    Hey: I just thought of a new thread
    That took longer than I thought. That was pretty much my immediate take-away from that article too...I know we are living in weirdville at the moment, but seriously!!

    Maybe someone should ask him where all these brave words were years ago, when maybe something could have been done to have the game in a better position now?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecky View Post
    Perhaps he should have resigned in protest; shortly after having been appointed?
    He resigned for the same reason why the people who were working on rebuilding coaching structures with him. They got sick of the politics and red tape.

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    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

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    Veteran valzc's Avatar
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    Well yeah, but he didn’t seem to moan much while he was pulling a nice fee from RA at the time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by valzc View Post
    Well yeah, but he didn’t seem to moan much while he was pulling a nice fee from RA at the time.
    I don’t think it is that simple. It appeared the RA and Cheika muzzled Foxsports. Nick McArdle was suspended after the Argentina away test where he said ‘ you can’t polish a turd.’ Cheika kicked off so Nick wasn’t on air till the following year. Hoiles blew their cover in an open mic when asked where Nick was and we had to be careful in what we say.

    People saw through that BS and clearly Fox couldn’t justify their weekly Rugby shows as people stopped watching them. Now their journos are calling it as how it is now the contract is up.

    People like Jeremy Paul called them out on another Fox program that is no longer on the air.

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    Veteran valzc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bakkies View Post
    I don’t think it is that simple. It appeared the RA and Cheika muzzled Foxsports. Nick McArdle was suspended after the Argentina away test where he said ‘ you can’t polish a turd.’ Cheika kicked off so Nick wasn’t on air till the following year. Hoiles blew their cover in an open mic when asked where Nick was and we had to be careful in what we say.

    People saw through that BS and clearly Fox couldn’t justify their weekly Rugby shows as people stopped watching them. Now their journos are calling it as how it is now the contract is up.

    People like Jeremy Paul called them out on another Fox program that is no longer on the air.
    That’s true, but they were all quite capable of voicing their opinions way way long ago. But they obviously all wanted to keep their Foxtel gig. Pretty sure they all have lucrative careers apart from Foxtel, so why not have been more vocal & honest earlier on? So little, so late.

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    Kafer reminds me of Julie Bishop, never said a word about bullying of women in Parliament while she was there and never stood up for WA when it came to the GST etc but was keen to speak up when she left!

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    Yes I remember him on the rugby show on foxtel (whatever it was called at the time) presenting the absolute BS stats as to why the Rebels should be saved and the Force should go... That must have been part of the application process for the RA..

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