My reading of the dramatic announcement that John O’Neill has resigned his position as chief executive of the ARU is that he has jumped and was not pushed.
This reading is an intuition based on some knowledge of the devious and bitter politics that often obsess Australian rugby, especially the battle between state rights and players rights over the centralising (and correct, in my opinion) tendency of the national authority, the ARU.
The sort of deal that O’Neill has negotiated, too, suggests that he has driven the changing of the guard operation.
His loyal assistant executive, in rugby and football, Matt Carroll is the acting CEO. The chairman of the ARU, Michael Hawker, said that a world-wide search for a new chief executive was about to begin and that Carroll was a ‘very strong candidate’ for the job.
O’Neill finishes up at the end of October, a year earlier than his contract allowed. He retains his seat on the IRB Board, as chairman of the IRB Regulations Committee and he remains a board member of Rugby World Cup Ltd.
These are the perk positions in world rugby. They are positions of power which O’Neill can use, with his superior political skills, to advance the cause of Australian rugby.
He expressly made the point at the press conference, too, that his commitment to the RWC Ltd goes through to the 2019 RWC tournament which will he held in Japan.
There will be terrific opportunities for Australian rugby in being involved in the first RWC tournament held in a developing (in rugby terms) nation.
Hawker pointed to the fact, too, that ‘John’s workload beyond Rugby has grown significantly, and unexpectedly, through his chairmanship of Echo Entertainment.’
It is a fact, as well, not pointed out by Hawker that O’Neill’s critics have cited this extra workload as a distraction from his main job of running the ARU.
O’Neill has pointed out that his contract with the ARU has always allowed him to have other board appointments. He was the chairman, for instance, of the NSW Tourist Commission.
But it is obvious if you read the business pages of the newspapers (as I did on the train going out to the ARU’s headquarters at St Leonards) that the Echo Entertainment job has become a very time-consuming job with James Packer increasing the pressure for a deal between Crown and Echo.
This Packer pressure has intensified in the last month or so, as Echo Entertainment has been doing very good business apparently.
So at Pretoria, during the Wallabies Test there last month, Hawker and O’Neill came to an agreement to step down with about a year to go on his contract.
The media conference at ARU headquarters was a low-keyed affair. The chairman of the ARU, Michael Hawker, read out a prepared statement citing O’Neill’s undoubted (in my opinion) achievements in his two terms as the ARU’s chief executive.
O’Neill made some personal comments, mainly thanking a number of people who had helped him during his two stints at the ARU’s chief executive.
Danny Weidler, always looking for angle, quizzed O’Neill about Quade Cooper’s remarks about a so-called ‘toxic environment’ in the Wallabies. Hawker just dismissed the line of questioning as inappropriate.
The Roar’s David Lord got into a discussion with O’Neill about the high injury rate of Australian rugby players.
In the course of this discussion, O’Neill made the (valid, in my opinion) point that the NZRU had made the transition from amateur to professional rugby better than any other union. He volunteered the point that the NZRU dictates to the provinces and it controls its players.
This need for the ARU to adopt the NZRU model, which is a highly centralised affair, with even the Super Rugby coaches picked by the NZRU, has been an O’Neill hobby horse. But it has and is meeting stiff resistance from the states and the Super Rugby franchises.
O’Neill’s inability to get much traction on this issue (and I must stress I am giving my own opinion here) might have been another factor in the timing of his jump.
There was a poignant moment right at the end of the media conference. The ARU’s media manager Peter Jenkins intervened to wrap thing up when a journalist expressed astonishment along the lines that O’Neill hadn’t really revealed why he was stepping down.
“What’s the real story?” she asked.
O’Neill picked up her question and, it seemed to me, answered it with some emotion. “You got to be lucky in the end to come into a great job at the right time … I’ve been 14 years in it and CEOs come and go and sometimes it’s hard to battle on … I’m pretty contented with what I did … Echo has added another dimension to my workload … I’ve still got the IRB and the Rugby World Cup Ltd and the Olympic Sevens at Rio in 2016 …”
When he was asked earlier how he would rate his second stint as the chief executive after the great triumph of his first stint, O’Neill rather modestly suggested that he would give himself a “6 or 7 out of 10.”
He pointed out that after 2003 rugby had a 24 per cent market share of football market. It was 13.7 per cent when he came back. It was now at 17 per cent. The Reds won the 2011 Super Rugby title for the first time. The Wallabies won the Tri Nations tournament in 2011. Last year, too, 7 out of the top 10 sports programs on Fox Sports in terms of ratings involved rugby union matches.
“We didn’t win the 2011 RWC last year. The Wallabies are still number two in the world rankings. We’ve expanded the Super Rugby tournament for five teams in each franchise. Argentina is in The Rugby Championship. Our playing numbers are up.”
There was a question about how O’Neill’s stepping down affected the position of Robbie Deans as the coach of the Wallabies.
Hawker intervened immediately and pointed out that the selection of the Wallaby coach is a board decision, not a decision by the CEO. Hawker then launched into a very strong defence of Deans’ record.
This suggests to me that nothing much has changed in this matter. The likelihood is that Deans will coach the Wallabies next year during the tour of the British and Irish Lions. And a decision will be made on his future after 2013 in the light of what happens in this series.
My final thought is this. I believe that O’Neill has had a stellar career as the chief executive of the ARU. In many ways he has saved the game in Australia. He will be a hard act to follow.
>> Read more: Live blog of the announcement.
Happy Hooker
Guest
Spot on KPM!
richard
Guest
Sorry, freudian slip - meant '99 - '03; '98 was of course a 3 test series.
richard
Guest
Balmybeach, you can look at it another way; when your lot held it between '98 - '03 it was just a two test series, which makes it very easy to hold the trophy, all it requires is one flukey win in a "series". Remember one of your victories came in such a manner - the Eales penalty in injury time, for example The difference with the ab's wins since '03, is that they have been completely dominant - even if they had all been 3 test series, what makes you think the wb's would have been good enough to beat us?.
Lindommer
Guest
Alan Jones HAS been involved with "Wallaby adults" (1984-1987), and most of them can't stand him. Calling for the Parrot to step into JON's shoes really is a massive step backwards.
balmybeach
Guest
One of the hurdles we have had in trying to get the Bledisloe back from NZ is that for the last many years, JON put us the position of having to win 3 out of 4 games to do it. To me, a decision putting money in the bank as a higher priority than giving the team and the coach every chance to win. Would the NZRU have supported such a move if we had held the Cup at the time and they had to win 3 out of 4? It has surprised me over the years that no criticism has ever been levelled at the ARU and JON for this decision.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"Amazonfan the statement by AJ was about individual women in our parliament, and like many men there, they are indeed " destroying the joint " " Really? Yet he talked about how women are destroying the joint. That is the very definition of sexism. "and those particular people you mentioned with their escapades in the street deserved what Jones said not to mention heavier police attention" Are you serious?! Members of the community were subjected to loathsome racism and xenophobia by Jones, and you think what he said was deserved? If a member of the Muslim Lebanese-Australian community said the same comments about Westerners, you would probably be outraged. His comments were disgusting, and that you're attempting to defend them is the epitome of ridiculous. Let's get one thing straight: NOBODY deserves to be subjected to the abuse Jones produced. Any decent person would understand that. Oh, and as for police attention, that is what he deserved. "AJ is not a bigot" Yes, he is. Repeating 'AJ is not a bigot' multiple times does not make you right, it simply demonstrates you're trying to cover your ears and block out the reality that your beloved AJ is a horrible bigot, and one whom should have been arrested for inciting violence!
Alf
Guest
Rugby needs to get away from the money obsession and get back to the basics of building an audience. It is in the entertainment business afterall. The game itself is fine, it just needs to find the wider audience and most importantly be accessible. If not, it will die like a plant without access to enough light.
amband
Guest
exactly. get rid of Deans now and any of his disciples
amband
Guest
yes but you see, he was looking after others, such as sponsors etc. He was not acting as a CEO experienced in not for profits, as the ARU is. We need a CEO experienced in NFP He must realize the rugby product in and of itself is our biggest bargaining chip. Commerce has moved in and raped our sport. That should not have been allowed
amband
Guest
and bring ex rugger boys back to rugger from league where you'll find many of them
amband
Guest
Johnno I agree with some of your points, but I do believe in protectionism. No foreign players please
amband
Guest
LOL maybe your right, but we are talking about Wallaby adults, not schoolboys
amband
Guest
Amazonfan the statement by AJ was about individual women in our parliament, and like many men there, they are indeed " destroying the joint " and those particular people you mentioned with their escapades in the street deserved what Jones said not to mention heavier police attention AJ is not a bigot
Sid
Guest
Alan Jones should not be involved with young men.
Face Tious
Guest
Johnno........you are the stand out applicant for the CEO'S role. Your CV of posts confirms it.
Krasnoff of Noosa
Guest
O’Neill rates himself a six or a seven. I think he failed. I think he failed for the following reasons: the removal of the ARC competition which would have brought provincial sides from all states to one competition would have identified aspiring players for the 2nd tier and on to national level. It was a concept put together by Gary Flowers which was lauded by Super coaches and almost all the players. It ran for one year and O’Neill scrapped it, ostensibly because of cost. Chasing the buck, O’Neill diluted the 2nd tier playing group by allowing five super franchises in Australia—the player group is too thin. O’Neill showed a lack of wisdom by prematurely renewing Deans’ contract before the end of the RWC which for Australia was a dismal failure. I like the notion of amateurism for the 3rd tier. Too much money is being thrown at young players too soon. Now, I’m seventy-three years old and I spent 21 years in the Army in charge of troops, my last two years in command of an Australian regular army battalion. I trained young national servicemen for operations in Vietnam. They came to Battle School as smart-arses and left as proficient soldiers. Some were killed, others wounded, none of them got extra money but all learned about integrity, loyalty and discipline. And this leads me to Deans. I think Robbie Deans is a good bloke, but he’s out of his depth as a national coach and should be replaced immediately after this next match against the ABs in Brisbane. He has no cohesive playing strategy, he is ultra conservative (particularly against the ABs where he manifests a strange inferiority complex), his team selection is poor and he constantly changes playing groups, he has poor management skills over young players. So, unless we stop pandering to The Establishment and make some tough decisions about management and coaches all we’ll be doing is shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic.
Face Tious
Guest
Another strong candidate will be available soon, has shown resilient leadership skills, doesn't put up with any crap and has a track record for raising funds. What about that person?
Johnno
Guest
For a start Machiavelli he was only talking about the governance, and treaded lightly on super rugby. He never spoke about businesss models or expansion eg to western sydney in that article. it was just about the governance, and why didn't he talk about this when in charge as CEO, only after he leaves, when he is paid ot be a headkicker when in the job. Very easy to be a headlkicker when you leave but it takes guts when you the boss to be a headkicker.
Machiavelli
Guest
I rest my case. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/modernise-or-face-a-dim-future-john-oneill-warns-rugby/story-e6frg7o6-1226494735080
Johnno
Guest
Thelma the feeling is mutual I can't imagine you as a CEO. You would send rugby backwards in OZ not forwards, you would be anti imports like 5 per team would be too much for you . You'd think brining out 5 stator imports eg 5 Gareth Delves for a team would be bad and harm local rugby, so silly and backward. you wouldn't push to get school boy rugby on tv. Or have a 3rd tier. You probably would of been very cautious about the All Blacks getting a big sponsor in the middle of there jersey, and rambled on about tradition and heritage and sentiment like you do. I would of had a naming rights sponsor int he middle of the jersey 20 years ago if i was cep of the NZRU. I can't imagine you as a CEO , to conservative, protectionism based, traditionilist in your business models. Thelma I have given out many business model idea why don't you show some guts and forwad thinking and put out some business model ideas and i will analyse them for you. Always me putting them out and you tearing me down, show some guts and put some ideas out here for me to scrutinise. If you have any guts too, rather than just sitting back and critiquing me, let me analyse and critique you on rugby matters if you have any courage too Thelma.