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“There’s a lot of turmoil happening in Australian rugby.” You don’t say, Mr Jones?
Those were the words of Michael Jones, the CEO (maybe still the CEO, maybe not) of the Brumbies to Tim Gavel on ABC Grandstand last Saturday.
The rest of that particular quote ran out like this: “I’m not exactly sure where all that is going to end, but rest assured that we are all trying very hard to make sure the off field stuff matches the on field.”
Unfortunately where we are now is a live look in at a dumpster fire; a Super Rugby club being torn apart by internal and external pressures.
I’d encourage everyone to listen to the interview in full if you haven’t already. That 20 minutes in a Canberra studio flipped the lid on a whole lot sparked a fuse that will run until… well, we don’t know when.
Jones in a stormy, and at times uncomfortable, interview, said the Brumbies were coming under sustained fire from sections of the Canberra and rugby community. If think it is fair to say Jones made direct links between those “rumours” and the referral to the Australian Federal Police information about the sale of the old Brumbies HQ at Griffith and defamation action initiated through a December 2015 letter to Jones by the University of Canberra vice-chancellor.
“There’s a lot of people out there that are obviously nervous and uncomfortable and that’s their problem… they feel that potentially that throwing mud at me is their best offence.”
Before we dig into the meat of this particular situation, it’s helpful to put this all into a broader context, as Jones himself did during the interview.
I’ve already said this twice this year: rugby turmoil was buried by a strong Super Rugby performance and Wallabies world cup result in 2015. However, the problems haven’t been solved.
It was a distraction. “Look over there – the Wallabies are in a world cup final!”
2016 has rolled around and suddenly we’re looking at Australian rugby without the lustre of a world cup to divert our attention. What we see isn’t pretty.
Clubs are fighting each other and the ARU. It’s been suggested that the Western Force should be closed. The ARU had to give $800,000 to the Force. Queensland Rugby Union posted a big loss. The Waratahs and Reds CEOs just jumped ship. The ARU asked an external firm to take a look at the books of all Super Rugby clubs.
That’s a bleak list.
Now the best Australian team of 2016 is literally being torn apart. The board voted to stand down Jones in the wake of his explosive interview with the ABC and he is fighting in court to keep his job.
In the interview Jones claimed he was “fighting” for the Brumbies with his hands tied because he couldn’t openly debunk the claims made in rumours about the state of the Brumbies.
“I do not want to impugn anybody,” he said.
“I don’t want to make enemies and I haven’t named anybody or made any accusations public. All the stuff has been named at me, not from me outwards. I haven’t today and I haven’t ever gone out and fought back about what’s actually happening and what the situation is.”
Despite his hands being tied, Jones did give plenty of interesting detail.
Immediately after saying some people were nervous and uncomfortable about the police investigation, he was asked whether the relationship with the University of Canberra could be repaired, despite defamation action in the wings. Jones specifically raised the Brumbies decision to invest in the facility at the university.
“The Brumbies rightly or wrongly invested close to $7 million in the facilities there…”
He obliged when pressed to explain himself: “The Brumbies financial position is they made losses 10 of the last 11 years and to invest the large proceeds of the sale of their only asset immediately into pre-paid rent for 30 years and to buy a new facility that they don’t own any equity in and that there is no recourse to actually ever get that money back. You have to go, ‘is that a clever decision?’ I look at that having worked as an investment banker and various things and go, ‘hmmm that is an interesting call’.”
Aside from the police investigation or defamation action in court, Jones clearly and specifically highlighted and then distanced himself from one of the main financial decisions made by the club in recent times. Not many media reports focused on that part of the interview, because it isn’t immediately as explosive. But people wanting information instead of rumours might be advised to start with which people agree with that contract.
Going on the logic he provided in this specific interview, I might be inclined to support Jones’ conclusion as well. It’s tough to justify locking up the proceeds of that sale ahead of time like that.
Are there other details? What did we glean about the defamation process?
Jones said he wasn’t taking the defamation action over an email sent to Joe Roff, seriously at all. “At the moment I’m doing nothing about it. If the other side want to keep pursuing it they need to stump up or shut up.”
He did provide some more detail.
“When the remedy [for the perceived defamation] was to release the Australian Federal Police documentation, is the only remedy, it doesn’t necessarily mean this is defamation.”
So, according to Jones, the defamation threat by the University of Canberra vice-chancellor says the way to fix the problem is to release the documentation related to a the federal police investigation.
Jones sets himself up as the good guy – a “change agent” – doing his best to clean up a messy situation at the Brumbies, highlighting the fact that four people have held his post within two years.
“I’m doing what has to be done for the Brumbies. If that gets people who have their own personal interest hurt by that, I do not shy away from that and do not apologise for that.”
In a huge endorsement of long form interviews, it is later on in the chat is when Jones really starts dropping bombs. You can actually hear the pressure he is under in his voice.
“I only know how to act and that’s you can’t fight half a war. So if I go to war it’s going to be ugly and there’s going to be a lot of people are going to get burnt by it,” was one bomb that people latched onto quickly.
In light of the Brumbies board standing him down, another line resonates.
“The people internally who are bowing to the pressure – because that’s all it is, if anybody is folding from the ranks they’re bowing to the pressure – to man up, to use that phrase, and do the best thing for the Brumbies.”
Has the board bowed to the pressure? Or was Jones misplaced in his view that what has been said about the club is all unsupported or untrue?
The fact that the Brumbies board said almost nothing about why they stood down the coach is both very upsetting and quite understandable.
The statement from the club was short and pretty much stated Jones had been stood down and moved on to give other platitudes that provided no information at all about the actual problem. There was no explanation as to why Jones was, or even should be, stood down. But the board probably predicted legal action would follow, so kept their cards close to their chest.
Jones has taken legal action and won an injunction. He told an ABC Canberra reporter he will go back to work. The case will go back to court next week according to reports.
During the interview Jones said there was a “cancer” eating the Brumbies that was going to be terminal.
Back in September 2015 the Brumbies board supported Jones in referring the sale of the Griffith property and surrounding transactions – seemingly the location where the first cell in the cancer mutated – to the AFP. The ARU was involved in the behind the scenes investigation, so was also presumably supportive. Accounting firm KPMG also had a look at the records before the police were brought in.
During the very interview where he said he was fighting with his hands tied, Jones has said enough to make sure whatever happens from here on out will be a more public fight. He drew clear lines between the investigation, the defamation and the ongoing instability. Until someone else pushes the conversation in a different direction it will be assumed those are the beginning and end points of motivation for powerbrokers in Canberra trying to get their way.
Once the interview aired the board either had to back their man or act. After consulting with Bill Pulver, they did act. At this point the board have moved on Jones as if he is the cancer, not the rumours coming from the outside and the defamation action. The question is whether they are confident enough in that diagnosis to pursue it through the courts, where the record can get uncomfortably public.
One alternative could be to get behind Jones and the board’s decision last year to let the AFP investigate and let the cards fall where they may. Another option is to hold up the email to Joe Roff (already nominated as a successor in a report), as proof enough to sack Jones but still support the investigation, hoping the defamation at least disappears.
It’s hard to know for sure if Jones really is just a guy who is just trying to do the right thing and clean up his patch, or whether there are other motives behind the public way he has now called out what appears to be some sort of cronyism.
The rugby public is watching with bated breath and a sense of resigned dread – we watch our administrators battle themselves too often.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.