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Brumbies chief executive Michael Jones heads back to the ACT Supreme Court today to continue the fight to keep his job, but the longer this whole mess goes on, the worse my gut feeling about a resolution gets.
Their coach Stephen Larkham lauded the effort of his team in South Africa this week after the win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
“There was good focus this week from the boys. [There is] a bit of turmoil back home, but hopefully that will be sorted out next week when we get back,” he said.
“Internally, we just had 100per cent focus on the game.”
The prospect of the issue being resolved this week is more wishful thinking than anything. With Jones heading back to court, the only way the turmoil will end this week is if Jones has his case thrown out and the Brumbies board sack him.
With Jones still of the belief he’s done nothing wrong, it would be hard to imagine his case being so flimsy that it could be dismissed immediately.
The worry for me is that the narrative around the saga took a concerning change of direction toward the end of last week.
With an Australian federal police investigation ongoing, you would have been excused for thinking there really wouldn’t be a lot of commentary around anything related to the case, and that the primary focus of everyone even remotely linked would be to ensure that the referred 2009-2013 club transactions turned up nothing that would result in criminal charges being laid.
Instead, the overwhelming message out of last week was that if the Brumbies board carried through with its threat to issue Jones the ‘don’t come Monday’ notice, that they could actually afford the required contract payouts that would inevitably arise.
ARU CEO Bill Pulver was reported to have supported the actions of the Brumbies board early last week, flying down to Canberra to give assurances that the ARU would step in if required. Pulver was particularly keen to hose down Jones’ very real scenario of an insolvent Brumbies doing much wider damage to the game’s governing body, and the professional existence of the game itself in Australia.
Those assurances from Pulver that the Brumbies weren’t going anywhere went further than that, though.
“The Brumbies are in solid financial shape. Were there to be any issues down in Canberra at all, we would obviously do everything we could to help out. The Brumbies are a great football team, they’re performing well this year and are in good shape for the future,” Pulver told Fox Sports last week.
Pressed by Nick McArdle if that meant the ARU stepping in to pay out a contract that the Brumbies may not be able to afford clearing, Pulver reiterated.
“Yes we would. In short, we would. The Brumbies are a very important part of the Australian rugby landscape, and they’re going to be there for a long, long time to come, and we’ll do whatever we have to do to support them.”
Speaking with Tim Gavel on 666 ABC Canberra on Saturday – the source of the Jones interview on March 19 that saw rumours explode into a proper crisis – Pulver continued down this same path.
“Look, the issue of a payout for Michael Jones is not one necessarily I want to go into, I’m simply comfortable that the Brumbies’ financial situation is capable of taking care of all of their financial obligations,” Pulver said.
“So whether that included a payout, or anything else, their financial situation is solid, and quite capable of dealing with all those matters.”
But think about what’s really being said here. If push comes to shove, rather than letting the AFP investigation run its course and actually finding out if something untoward did indeed occur around the sale of their former South Canberra training base and the move to the University of Canberra, the Brumbies could in fact afford to pay out the contract of the CEO they hired to enact change in the organisation.
Jones found the “financial anomalies” while conducting his own review, and felt they needed a second opinion. The club’s lawyers took a look and presented these concerns to the Brumbies board, who then agreed to involve the ARU Integrity Unit and KPMG’s Forensic Accounting arm. The Brumbies and the Integrity Unit then agreed to refer the matter and jointly fund the AFP investigation.
But instead of waiting for this investigation, the Brumbies are quite clearly entertaining the thought of sacking the man they installed for raising a concern while doing the job he was hired to do.
And further, the Brumbies were said to be on track for a massive financial turnaround; after recording a record loss of $1.68 million in 2015, the forecast for 2016 was for a significant profit, possibly even as high as a million dollars.
The Brumbies have recorded losses in ten of the last 11 years, and yet they’re seriously considering blowing a rare and potentially large profit on paying out the change agent they had installed themselves.
The Australian Financial Review reported a month ago that of the 49 professional football clubs in Australia, only 17 of them recorded operating profits in 2015. None of those 17 clubs play Super Rugby, and only five of them recorded a profit that required a seventh digit.
The Brumbies are risking becoming the healthiest rugby franchise in Australia, just to shut the bloke up who’s asking awkward questions. It’s mind-blowing.
Of course, in terms Australian rugby, making the problem go away is often as favourable – arguably more favourable – than ever seeking proper resolution.
Think of all the major crises that have gripped Australian rugby in recent years – the Ewen McKenzie-Di Patston saga is but one – and there’s one thing they all share: the actual details at the crux of each matter never saw the light of day.
Indeed, we still don’t know the actual reason the Brumbies board stood Jones down last Monday night.
The governance of rugby in this country has perhaps never looked shakier, nor has it ever been under more scrutiny. The Western Force are said to be exploring four options of varying desperation to ensure their ongoing viability, the Queensland Reds’ downturn since winning a title is alarming, and another Waratahs CEO has vacated the corner office, this time after just one year.
And just when it seemed like the Brumbies might genuinely be matching their on-field success with some healthy front office operation, a self-interested decision could put their finances at serious risk.
Never mind solving the actual problem at hand. No, no. I’ve got the broom; lift that carpet, chaps.
How very Australian rugby of them.