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How I was knifed: O'Neill
Bret Harris | July 27, 2007
JOHN O'NEILL has accused powerful International Rugby Board and Australian rugby figures of forming an alliance to conspire to remove him from the ARU's top job four years ago.
O'Neill, who returned to the role of ARU chief executive in June after successfully running Australian soccer for three years, has revealed his conspiracy theory with great candour in his soon-to-be-released book, It's Only a Game.
While O'Neill was told former ARU director and NSWRU chairman Dilip Kumar was the prime mover behind the plot to oust him, he also suspected former ARU chairman Bob Tuckey of shifting to the side of his enemies after a row about the vice-chairmanship of the IRB.
He also believed IRB figures, particularly from the Celtic countries, would have been "delighted to hear of any plans to run me out of the game" because they perceived him as a threat to their "stranglehold on the game".
"It is only a conspiracy theory, but no-one has been able to convince me that IRB figures did not play some sort of role in my departure from the ARU," O'Neill wrote. "My belief is that the Celtic unions, who had considerable influence on Australian officials, may have tried to drive a wedge between Tuckey and me by encouraging Bob to stand for vice-chairman when they knew full well that SANZAR were going to head in another direction.
"There will be officials from this period in Australian rugby who will accuse me of paranoia, but in the Machiavellian world of rugby politics, anything and everything is possible. One-time enemies will form alliances to serve their own self-interests. And there were certainly a series of developments in the wake of my exit, seemingly unrelated, that suggested if you joined the dots they were linked to a grand plan to knife me."
The ARU board decided not to extend O'Neill's contract in December, 2003, less than a month after he had presided over a successful World Cup that delivered a $45m windfall.
O'Neill believes officials such as Kumar, who went on to become ARU chairman for a brief period following his departure, saw him as a threat.
Another key figure O'Neill "ostracised" was former ARU president Peter Crittle. They clashed over who should give the speeches on behalf of the ARU during the World Cup.
"To tell the truth, I didn't care," O'Neill wrote.
"It would have taken a much braver person than me to stand between Peter Crittle and a microphone."
O'Neill was alerted to the push against him by former ARU director Chris Zucker, who "had clearly made the most of his visit to one of the hospitality boxes" at the Wallabies- Springboks game in Brisbane in 2003.
He confronted Tuckey, who told him not to worry and that he would be safe under his watch. But during the World Cup O'Neill continued to receive warnings that influential people were out to get him, including a message from former ARU chairman Leo Williams, who said: "Mate, they're out to get you. You're f***ed. They're going to do you in after the World Cup."
The only thing that would possibly save O'Neill was the Wallabies winning the World Cup, but they lost to England 20-17 in extra time.
There was "almost eerie silence" between key ARU officials and O'Neill from the night of the final to December 11 when he met Tuckey on the eve of the board meeting that would decide his future.
Tuckey told O'Neill he would not have his contract extended, saying it was a "question of style".
Instead of remaining as a "lame duck" CEO for 12 months, O'Neill negotiated a $900,000 severance package. An emotionally drained O'Neill broke down in tears when he addressed the ARU staff and told them he was leaving, the only solace he took was an "ironclad offer in my back pocket to join Frank Lowy at the Australian Soccer Association".
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