Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle is standing by the decision to settle with axed Wallabies star Israel Folau, saying it was right for the game.
Defiant Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle says the cost of settling with sacked Wallabies star Israel Folau is less than going to trial and gives the national body certainty it needs going into 2020.
Castle on Thursday defended RA’s handling of the Folau saga, from his re-signing on a four-year deal to his sacking in April to Wednesday’s settlement, which avoided a February court case.
Having earlier dismissed reports speculating on the confidential payout – up to $8 million was suggested – as “wildly inaccurate” on Twitter, Castle described them as “disappointing” in a hastily-called media conference at RA HQ.
The CEO said the settlement, which included apologies by both parties, was a commercial decision and not an admission it got it wrong.
“We didn’t back down – we needed to give the game some certainty,” she said.
Castle said the national body was covered by liability insurance but couldn’t discuss to what extent it covered the payout.
“The terms are confidential but what you do try and find is a situation that gives Rugby Australia some certainty and this settlement gives us that and also ensured that we were in the situation where the cost to RA was less than seeing a trial through to the end of February,” Castle said.
“Ultimately we had a number that we knew was more cost effective for us to settle than it was for us to go to court.
“There won’t be any money taken out of community rugby or we won’t have to make any changes to the budget situation.”
Castle reiterated that the organisation believed it made the right call in sacking Folau for his religiously-motivated, anti-gay social media posts.
“We didn’t get it wrong – we stood up for the values of Rugby Australia,” she said.
“We made the right decision in calling out Israel on his posts and inappropriate messaging, that remains the same.
“We stuck to our values that inclusiveness is core to the key of rugby.”
Despite it falling well short of his demand of $14 million, Folau said on Wednesday night he was “extremely pleased” with the settlement and felt vindicated by the apology.
Castle said the RA apology was for hurt caused to Folau and his NZ netball star wife Maria, not for its action against him.
“There was an apology both ways because this has been very stressful,” she said.
“This has been a very hard time for the Folaus and Rugby Australia but at the end of the day it was about that difficult time that Rugby Australia has apologised for but we stand by our decision and the process we’ve been through.
“The person that chose to break the code of conduct was found guilty, his contract was terminated because of that.
“That stands up and continues to say, this is an inclusive sport and behaviour and commentary of this type is not acceptable.”
Castle was satisfied with the current player contracts but said RA would look to provide more clarity around social media and code of conduct clauses when they negotiated the collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union next year.
“All players want is clarity, they want to understand clearly what the guidelines are and if we can do something to make those clear we will do that,” she said.
Castle said she felt she was still the right person to lead RA, and backed the way she and the board had handled the matter.
“I do because at the end of the day this has been very difficult – there’s not a business leader that leads an organisation that I’ve spoken to that hasn’t looked at this situation and gone, this is a very difficult thing.
“Ultimately we’ve had extensive support from the rugby community and also from the wider business community.”
Castle said that she couldn’t see a way for the 30-year-old to again play professional rugby in Australia.
“It’s clear to see our values are not aligned … I don’t believe he would sign under the current player contract.”
Josh
Roar Rookie
They are outstanding junior players, the 2nd best for their age group...this does not guarantee anything...this is the highlight of australia rugby for the last 5 years...we came 2nd in a junior world cup. This is what people hang their hat on. My point was while this is a positive and better than finishing last, these players will get further development through our tier two super rugby pathways. They will also need to compete against last years crop of juniors and this years.
LondonWaratah
Guest
Sadly I agree. Both need to go away quietly and think what could have been...including, what if IF had swatted on Rugby strategy and getting the team to the try line, instead of what's going to be good for his brand....i.e. imagine if he behaved like Jesus on the footy field?
Marlin
Roar Rookie
Both of them sold out (their principles). I wish both would go away
LondonWaratah
Guest
OTHER OPTION MAYBE:...I'm totally acknowledging the 2 brain cells..but the ego would be saying, if I wrap this now after my dumb recent comments, I MIGHT just get another, final gig somewhere for 2020??. If apologies are all round then maybe someone might look at me for a contract and I won't retire on the sidelines as an illogical, hypocritical tool?
LondonWaratah
Guest
Josh...Please explain this statement... "I think the u20s are very over rated and need to be given a chance to prove themselves." Are they over-rated because they only beat the Junior ABs 24-0 ? Should they have won by more, even though ABs have always beaten their Aus U20 counterparts until 2019? Should they have defeated the ABs to a negative number...eg 24 to -7 for instance? Have they not had a chance to prove themselves because they only came 2nd in the U20 World Championship and beat Junior ABs by 24 to nil this year? Should they have competed in 2 world cups this year? Do you mean they cannot be considered outstanding until they beat the senior ABs 24-0? Please explain!
London Watah
Guest
Yes, RC's wording of an apology would have been misconstrued by Folau for sure. Hey ho, I hope the next signings are smarter people. They're worth the investment.
London Waratah
Guest
Bingo! That's most likely the scenario as all reports had it that he rejected RA's initial offer. Perhaps after his recent posts added to the ridiculaous suggestion of missed captaincy, he realised it's better to take a slightly improved offer and try to get a final footy gig somewhere. Everyone has freedom of speech but not if contracted otherwise in certain regards...like me and others....can't post photos of recent events as it's part of our engagement contract, similar to Folau's contract (ish). He unfortunately never had tactical/positional smarts and never 'won us a game'. He wasn't a team guy either. ...and he 'cast the first stone' whilst covered in tatts !!
SandBox
Roar Guru
You might be giving them too much credit. Suppose in the absence of solid evidence we are all left guessing, but I’d back my guess over your shoulder shrug
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
It’s not like they were caught in a private moment. They knew they were walking out to waiting cameras at the conclusion of a legal matter that they ran with the assistance of a hired PR team. They could have paid out to RA (not saying that happened) and they would still have put on a big smile for the cameras.
deucer
Roar Rookie
A quote from a comment?? That's like using a quote from one of the roarers. The opinion piece Andrew Webster did was very critical of Falou, but you didn't seem to mention that. Here's a quote from the opinion piece by Andrew Webster And now here was Folau, the multi-millionaire sporting superstar, asking the unwashed to fund his fight in the name of “freedom of speech” and “religious freedoms”. Much like the same-sex marriage debate, Folau’s case gave every homophobic bigot a licence to take a big stick to every gay in the village, while rattling off the old “freedom of speech” line while hiding behind the Bible. Which is fine. People can be bigots if they want. They can worship whomever they want. But if they are representing a company, or an organisation, or in Folau's case a professional sporting code, that bigotry has consequences.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
$8M is just being re-reported from the same dubious source...
stillmissit
Roar Guru
TWAS: On the radio and on the TV they were saying $8 mill. There is a meeting on Monday of the board and let's see if she survives. Andrew Webster has done some reading of the tea leaves in SMH Here is a quote from a comment on SMH article "This was a debacle created by the poor contractual and commercial management of Raylene Castle and the Board as well as arrogance and stupidity of belief that a ‘code of conduct’ breach in one specific sport could outrank or control the inalienable rights of a private citizen's democratic freedom of religious expression. Specifically, the Fair Work Act forbids it." Some board members claimed that she said 'we are 100% in the right and won't have to pay a penny" At the very least their insurance will go through the roof but I can't imagine an insurance company paying the full $8m if that was the figure.
SandBox
Roar Guru
I think you know better than this, but here’s some baby-step abductive reasoning for you He’s previously rejected 1M, and that was before he was cashed up for lawyers on other people’s money. Therefore, he had nothing to lose by taking it to court. So why would he settle? I see only two options: Option 1: He got the apology he wanted, and the cash he wanted. This we can establish is more than 1M, and probably in the 3-5M range. (Feel free to call your mates in RA and clarify this if you want). This is why he left the meeting looking happy and claimed vindication. Option 2: ‘The Seinfeld’ option. If you remember the show, there was a parody of a real life court case where Kramer took a coffee Cafe to negotiations over him burning himself. The initial offer of “free coffee for life” was quickly snapped up by Kramer before his lawyers could stop him. As the Folau’s might have collectively two brain cells clapping, there’s every chance this scenario happened as well. They walked out looking happy because they just bought the Paul Newman Rolex Daytona, or the harbour bridge, for 100 bucks, thinking they got a bargain. Do you see another option? If he got $300K, why didn’t he just say no and take a chance (that would cost him nothing) in court?
SandBox
Roar Guru
Walking out of negotiations that determine your financial future. I’d say a fair amount can be told from body language. See my response to TWAS
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
You can tell how much money a person has just made by their facial expression? How much money did Alan Border have on him when the TWAS’s profile pic was taken?
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Perhaps Folau wouldn’t accept the offer until now?
Hoy
Roar Guru
It won't come from RA, it would come from insurers... I don't want to know... I hope it was low, low, but if I find out it wasn't, I'll dislike Folau more.
Josh
Roar Rookie
that is true Markus but now those players will be in the waratahs setup not the crusaders. lets hope they maintain their growth trajectory through the waratahs system.
Bluesfan
That's the key question around RA's behavior. If they were always going to settle - why didn't they throw cash at Folau at the beginning vs. all the negative publicity, sponsor's being made very unhappy and running up large legal costs? To defend RA though - Folau might not have being prepared to settle quickly etc and they had no choice but to go down this route. That being said, I'm not sure that given that a settlement has being made - if a lot of pain could have being avoided by RA proactively settling this dispute with Folau - by effectively paying him out on his contract amount and then saying goodbye and good-luck right at the beginning - however always easy to say that with hindsight. That HSBC has disappeared off the scene indicates to my mind, just how damaging this issue has being for sponsors and effectively being associated with the code and probably is good evidence that RA made a miscalculation in not settling sooner.
Markus
Roar Rookie
"Their notable performance in the u20 wc is not above the wallabies 2015 runner up team." Apart from having the wood over the Junior ABs, something their senior counterparts have not managed in coming up on two decades.