It could be worse for Raelene Castle; at least she doesn’t have to mop up the mess from Canterbury’s Mad Monday bender.
And if you listen to Julie Bishop, it isn’t all roses if you’re a driven and ambitious female in the federal Liberal Party.
But Castle’s job is as formidable and onerous as it was when she began at the start of this year.
Castle took on the gig as Rugby Australia chief executive with the game struggling financially and emotionally. The Wallabies were being battered and the Western Force had recently been cut from the Super Rugby competition. Crowds were down and discontent was up. Wins were scarce and criticism was common.
She was facing a huge task to turn the tide.
So how has Castle gone so far, just nine months into the job?
Castle is falling behind if you consider some of the main objectives that she would’ve been lining up.
Big-name Wallabies trio Michael Hooper, Israel Folau and Bernard Foley were all off contract at the end of 2018. Only Hooper has been re-signed, we are into September and there’s a World Cup next year.
AAP Image/Joe Castro
Another big deal is deciding what to do with the Western Force and getting some kind of direction on their future.
Do they bring Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest into the Rugby AU tent? Do they compromise and make Force players eligible for the Wallabies even if they’re not playing Super Rugby? Do they legitimise World Series Rugby or brush it?
Still, nothing substantial has been announced by RA over a year since they were cut and despite Forrest making clear his intentions.
And what about the Penrith Emus? Axed from the Sydney competition earlier this season, Castle had a perfect opportunity to make a statement about the importance of club rugby. There’s a strategic element to it, given western Sydney’s size, but also a sentimental side to it as club rugby needs to get some love from the top.
Of course it’s complicated. But has there been a commitment from RA about helping to secure the Emus’ future? Not that I’ve seen.
Castle has been working on what Super Rugby looks like post-2020 when the current broadcast contract expires. She’s helped get Matt Toomua back to Australia. The women’s Super W and Uni 7s competitions have started, although they were initiatives from the end of the Bill Pulver years.
A lot of the issues in the game can’t be blamed on Castle. The Wallabies winning one of their last seven games isn’t her fault. Neither are the Brumbies’ woeful home crowds, the fisticuffs between the two Melbourne Rebels players, the cocaine couple at the Queensland Reds, Quade Cooper’s Reds exile, the poor showings by the men and women at the Sevens World Cup, the lack of Super Rugby improvement despite the Force’s axing.
Castle was most vocal publicly when replying to the Folau ‘Gays to Hell’ tweet, although conveniently ignoring that an RA sponsor, Qantas, is in a commercial alliance with Emirates, based in a nation where homosexuals are significantly oppressed.
And she didn’t mince her words when describing another of the Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup failures as “not acceptable”, although she did back Michael Cheika as coach until the next World Cup.
Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images
The RA fortress isn’t crumbling, but Castle’s hardly been highly noticeable in announcing good news and direction for her sport. Good news might be hard to come by at the moment, but bold and assertive leadership can at least give confidence that things will soon turn around.
Sure, contract negotiations can be complex. But to leaving two of RA’s biggest player assets – Folau and Foley – still unsigned is dangerous.
The rugby public want some updates. They want decisions made. If they’re going to keep the faith, the fans want to know things are progressing.
Is Folau staying or going back to the NRL? It’s September! Where’s an update on the Force and WSR – is it dead, alive or somewhere in between? Will RA pump some money into the Penrith Emus? Will they pump some cash into other clubs that are struggling? Will they pump more money into clubs that are worthy because of their proven record in promoting juniors and the game in general?
Politicians will tell you that the electorate want to be engaged. They expect to be informed. The news cycle is daunting and relentless, but nonetheless important. And while Castle isn’t publicly elected, she could do worse than to embrace that rationale.
Castle has time on her side – she’s still relatively fresh to the job. And of course the rugby public aren’t privy to the complexities of negotiations that may explain the reasons for delays in decision-making.
But regardless, they want to know where the game is going and need to be fed.
Raelene Castle needs to come up with some decisions.
InterestedParty
Roar Rookie
Yes, Yes and Yes!
InterestedParty
Roar Rookie
ZA showed the world how to be competitive against the ABs this weekend. That is to play the full 80 minutes in their face, as they do with everyone else. Despite other aspects of the game affecting the result, the result was definitely against all the other stats.
InterestedParty
Roar Rookie
Less interested than Genia??
Prof_Kaos
Roar Rookie
A view from across the ditch. The SMH has an article about RA (ARU) not investing in the grass roots. This was part of a strategic ARU plan from 2003. It appears that the obvious weaknesses of former CEO John O'Neill's plan have well and truly come home to roost. The plan worked well while Aus had a good team but as soon as replacement for retirements were needed where to look other than the grass roots. And 10yrs of falling results have given young players more reason to look to other sports. And the Western Force debacle is just more of the same. The one region with a big enough war chest to invest in the grass roots, which after a decade was really starting to pay off. So what to do? I know, kick them out, can't have a region with a good idea. But to be fair to Raylene it is the mistakes of others that she is stuck with. That being said it is her job to fix this and she isn't. It looks like she needs a sugar daddy with heaps of $ who, combined with the public, is prepared to wait another decade for the development of new players from the grass roots to turn this around. Good luck with that.
Dave from Mt Druitt
Guest
Agreed Rah Rah. He tends to take part and be prominent when things are going good but becomes strangely absent especially on defence besides jumping and catching the odd high ball.
Gavin
Guest
Just curious. Which players currently playing overseas would be picked in the squad of 23 for the next test if no restrictions on selection?
John R
Roar Guru
No he's not.
Eamonn
Guest
Just quietly, a good start might be to take the broadcast rights away from Foxtel. Having the matches behind a paywall can be extremely damaging for exposure, especially if the Australian test and Super Rugby sides are struggling to perform. I mean, there's no reason newcomers looking to watch/play would be excited to get around that. Make the matches more accessible to everyone, and we'll see far more interest all the way from grassroots to the world stage.
amband
Roar Rookie
the admin must revert back to being ARU and structured as before admin people used it as a vehicle for personal profit
Malo5
Guest
She doesn’t have to do a thing. Enjoy the gravy until you get that huge golden handshake.
Max
Guest
For a start she needs to dress and act like a business woman and a CEO
terrence
Roar Rookie
longbow drawing "conveniently ignoring that an RA sponsor, Qantas, is in a commercial alliance with Emirates, based in a nation where homosexuals are significantly oppressed.."
enoughisenough
Roar Rookie
More to the point RA needs to make a call on Castle and the rest of the executive. She was a proven failure at the Bulldogs and one can make the case that her appointment had more to do with her gender than it did her competence and suitability for the job. She has shown how far out of her depth she is in her short tenure and prolonging her demise will only cause more harm to RA.
Uncle Eric
Guest
Come on Will, Raelene Castle could hardly have pointed out the inconvenient truth about Qantas and Emirates. Doing so could have meant the loss of Qantas' sponsorship and in all likelihood her position would have been put under severe pressure.
ols
Roar Pro
Didn't you know she is one of the Kransky Sisters. They don't do Green & Gold :) https://www.thekranskysisters.com/
Rickster
Roar Rookie
Can RA's PR team get RC to wear Green & Gold during interviews?
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Yep, Samu played for the Crusaders and considering the Crusaders are a better side than the Wallabies are; he should have a Flankers spot in the Aussie Team sewn up, permanently; Common sense! He is a better player than any of the current Loose Forwards Australia uses now!
Don
Roar Rookie
They had a great roster before she arrived TWAS. Hasler joined in 2012 and they made the GF. Castle joined in 2013 and they made another GF and finals in the other 2 years over her term. Castle was in charge during a period of extending existing player contracts on far too much $ and signing new players again on too much coin and also left the club in the position of having players contracted at values that when totalled, far exceeded the salary cap. So they had no choice but to offload contracted players and subsidise other clubs to take these players off their books, because they were obligated to pay the full value if they stayed at Canterbury. No. Whatever way you look at it, whether Castle oversaw and rubber stamped the deals or whether she allowed it to happen because the Chairman and Coach took control, she had her name on the door as the person in charge and needs to own it. So. The club was in good shape based in the roster when she arrived. The club was in a salary cap and roster mess when she left. And there is not much else that improved at Canterbury in the 3 years of Castle's tenure you could consider was worth a body like the ARU putting her in charge. Good news story about the first female CEO aside...
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
LOL! That is a golden comment, piru.
piru
Roar Rookie
it'll be 48 - 72 hrs TWAS