A plea for transparency from the ARU
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ARU chief executive John O'Neill (right) speaks with Wallabies coach Robbie Deans following a press conference at the team hotel (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
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Would every rugby supporter in Australia please raise their hand if they feel there is any transparency in the management of their favourite sport?
After all the feedback and online comments are analysed, the core issue with rugby this side of the ditch is fundamentally a lack of transparency.
All the most important decisions are taken in secret by people who obviously feel they know what is best for the sport in Australia.
Problem with that operating model is, that based on the performance of the Wallabies over the past 10 years, it simply doesn’t work.
The time has come for fundamental change.
If you consider that the ARU is the equivalent of a public company owned by its shareholders, then it should be run along the lines of a public company with a far greater level of transparency and a far greater focus on giving the shareholders a great return.
Now we can take a stab and list what the shareholders in Australian rugby would define as a decent return and it would likely be a focus on financial strength, player and coaching talent development and a reasonable level of match wins.
So if those three areas of return are reasonable measures then how would we rate our satisfaction as shareholders ?
Here are my suggested ratings:
1. Financial strength – average (at best). The general state of the ARU and Super Rugby franchise balance sheets is not great. This lack of financial firepower has to limit the extent of investment in the game.
2. Player and coaching strength – below average (at best). Based on how Aussie Super Rugby franchises haven’t figured in the finals in recent years, and certainly this year. Add in the Wallabies’ below par performances and importantly how the ARU allowed our potential national coaching talent to dwindle to such an extent that a New Zealander was selected as the Wallabies coach.
3. Reasonable match performance/wins – below average (at best). Obviously can’t be high based on the overall performance at Super Rugby and national level in the past 10 years.
So, my fellow shareholders, what are we going to do about this situation?.
Shall we all attend the ARU AGM (if there was one) and cast our votes on which director and CEO contracts are renewed?
Shall we boycott matches played on Australian soil until our genuine concerns and wishes are acted on?
Shall we vote with our pockets and sell our ARU shares and buy NZRU or SARU shares?
Rugby shareholders in Australia are not happy, haven’t been for a long time.
Maybe it’s time for a shareholders revolt?
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The Crowd Says (8) | Page 1 of Comments
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August 23rd 2012 @ 11:26am
Uncle Argyle said | August 23rd 2012 @ 11:26am | Report comment
Mate I think Lordy has written a similar article today relating to the ARU. Probably why he has alot of traffic in his colum but I enjoyed the read.
August 23rd 2012 @ 11:57am
Invictus said | August 23rd 2012 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Definitely time for a shareholders revolt!
August 23rd 2012 @ 1:34pm
Shulzi said | August 23rd 2012 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
This article appears to be more a venting of frustration at the lack of progress that rugby is experiencing in Australia, but nonetheless the article does hold some validity. In terms of looking at rugby ownership structures, it’s always stuck in my mind that Germany’s Bundesliga is the most profitable and successful league due to the fact that members of each club become shareholders. Antonia Hagemann on ABC’s Background Briefing put it well:
“There’s a long history of members’ association throughout everything the Germans do, so everybody is in several members’ associations so it’s a given that football clubs are run as members’ associations where as soon as you become a member, you can vote for the president or for the people on the board, and you can vote on several decisions. Whereas in other countries that culture doesn’t exist. For example, Hamburg SV is probably the best-run club I have come across in the last three or four years, and there the supporter involvement is huge. They have their own department, they’re full paid members, they have a budget of around 2-million, they organise the away travel. I mean the basic idea behind it is ‘Why should we deal with politics or high ticket prices if we can do them ourselves?’”
The article/story is well worth a listen: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/what-is-football-for/3036458
August 23rd 2012 @ 5:11pm
Pollock said | August 23rd 2012 @ 5:11pm | Report comment
The blowtorch being the truth is not going to be applied to the ARU.
August 23rd 2012 @ 6:00pm
Patonga said | August 23rd 2012 @ 6:00pm | Report comment
Time for the Broom ,, bye JON bye bye Dingo ,,, if only we lived in a democracy where fan could vote who they want…
August 25th 2012 @ 7:02pm
Wyatt said | August 25th 2012 @ 7:02pm | Report comment
Surely 2nd bledisloe match proves deans does not train the wallabies to win. I bet we win the third when it doesn’t,,t count!!!
August 26th 2012 @ 11:10am
Mick D. said | August 26th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
I agree the ARU needs a good clean out at the back of the ruck. But why stop there. We no longer see good flowing rugby because of 2 things:
1) Nth Hemisphere refs have all eaten the rule book & have destroyed the free flowing game rugby was.
2) Bring back rucking please; The crowd wants it; The players want it, because it will stop serial offenders like Ritchie the rat living offside at the back of the ruck.
I ,& i am sure many others, are sick & tired of him slowing play & disrupting the ball. How come the refs let him operate with impunity?
How come the ARU & other Unions dont complain ferociously about these repeated infringments?? It is a blot on the game & needs to be addressed. He is not the only the one of course, the All Blacks have made an art form of it.
I genuinely am no longer interested in attending test matchs due to the decline in open free flowing rugby, which was what attracted me to the game from rugby league.
The All Blacks are a great team; certinally there is an argument for them to be voted the best team of any sport in the modern era, but their serial offending at the breakdown does dimminish them & the game.
September 7th 2012 @ 7:51pm
AJH said | September 7th 2012 @ 7:51pm | Report comment
Mick D – totally agree with all you said. Bring back rucking Tony Shaw style. Players will definitely clear the Ruck. Unfortunately the game will be considered to brutal by mother’s worried about little Johnny.
Also simplify the breakdown rules – let teams come in from the side.
Scrum penalties should be no mote than a free kick – no penalty shots.
Penalties in the opposition’s 22 be worth 3 – otherwise 2 points.
Field goals 1 point.
Scrums should bind before they engage – this will reduce collapsed scrims.
Referees should always give benefit if the doubt to attacking teams – this will ensure teams take risks and ensure the game flows.
Field goals 1 point.