The Melbourne Rebels have accused Rugby Australia of seeking to “destroy” the current Super Rugby Pacific structure by deliberately underfunding its member unions and lambasted the national union for their unrestricted World Cup budget blowout.
A leaked document, written by the Melbourne Rebels Board and Rugby Victoria, also reveals that seven months before the Rebels went into voluntary administration, RA demanded the Melbourne-based side be known as the Rebels Pasifika.
The Roar understands that RA chief executive Phil Waugh was the brainchild of the Melbourne-based franchise joining forces with Moana Pasifika, who are owned by New Zealand Rugby and propped up by World Rugby but have struggled on and off the field since entering the competition in 2021.
At the same time, a club based on the United States west coast or Hawaii, and possibly representation from Japan, was being considered as a way to maintain the 12-team competition. It was also thought World Rugby would look favourably on a side being included from the United States given the country will host the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033.
Given the Rebels’ strong Polynesian influence, the idea was considered to have some merit.
Yet, the idea, which has been known for months, barely got off the ground with several sources surprised it went cold.
“As at 18 July 2023 RA was requiring Melbourne team to be known as Rebels Pasifika in its dealing with Rebels, Victorian Government, the British and Irish Lions Tours to Australia in 2025,” the document reads.
A secret plan to merge Moana Pasifika with the Melbourne Rebels was considered. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The 16-page document, which comes at a tense time for the franchise after falling into voluntary administration late last month after weeks of ugly headlines relating to their dire financials, slams RA for sending the club off a cliff.
It goes on to say that RA had failed in its leadership and the governing body was acting in an “unconscionable” manner towards Australia’s five Super Rugby franchises.
“RA treatment of Super Rugby and state members is so unreasonable as to be unconstitutional and unconscionable as it had been determined to destroy the current structure by under-funding SRL (Super Rugby licensee) members,” the document states.
At the heart of the document is RA reneging on their $1.7 million hand out to each of the Super Rugby franchises since the Covid pandemic brought the game to its knees.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh speaks to the media. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
While the franchises accepted the governing body needed to keep the funds in the 12-24 months following the Covid crisis, the Rebels hit out at RA for keeping the precious funds over the past two years, especially in light of former chairman Hamish McLennan’s ability to negotiate additional funding from the NZR.
Under the title ‘Issues’, the Rebels also questioned why RA was prepared to control the Waratahs given their financial issues and called on all “records” and the “Minutes of the Board of Directors and associated papers relating to all matters relating to SRPC and any Super Rugby Licensees including the Waratahs”.
Another section headed ‘undisputed facts and propositions’ says the governing body has “sought to turn its Member Unions against each other”.
The document also slammed RA’s decision not to publicise their report into last year’s World Cup disaster, which is thought to have gone over $5m in budget.
The report, which several sources deemed would be a waste of time and money, was overseen by former Wallabies captain Andrew Slack. Rugby Union Players’ Association boss Justin Harrison, as well as high performance specialist Darelene Harrison, were also on the panel.
It’s believed RA was presented the report weeks ago, but want to show it to incoming high performance director Peter Horne, who officially starts next month, before releasing some findings to the public.
The RA board is made up of Phil Waugh, Daniel Herbert, Pip Marlow, Brett Godfrey, Dr Jane Wilson, Matthew Hanning, Karen Penrose and president Joe Roff, who does not get a vote.
The Melbourne Rebels say Rugby Australia has sought to turn its members on one another. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
The board is coming under renewed pressure to stand up to be counted or stand down, with many believing nothing has changed since McLennan was ousted as chairman.
In fact, with McLennan’s broadcast expertise missing from the board, it’s understood RA is privately concerned about their looming broadcast negotiations.
There are fears that if RA doesn’t receive a significantly improved offer on the $29m it currently receives from Nine Entertainment, the game will continue to go backward at a rate of knots.
The recently prepared document, which was revealed by News Corp, came to light in the hours after more than 30 people attended a 25-minute creditors meeting held online on Thursday morning.
The meeting was told the Australian Taxation Office was owed $11.6m in unpaid tax, with debts incurred over five years.
Loans from creditors, including board members, were $5.7m.
The Victorian Government, which has offered the Rebels one month’s free rent on AAMI Park, was owed almost $2m.
The Herald Sun reports that creditors were told that RA was likely to be liable for up to $8m of the Rebels debt.
Rebels sources say they will play out of AAMI Park for the year, with tickets set to go on sale in the coming days.
Although Waugh has previously stated he was hoping for a quick resolution to the Rebels’ future, sources fear that should the decision be made to close the doors on the franchise beyond 2024, the saga could drag out for months with lawyers likely to get involved.
Australian rugby was put through the ringer in 2017 when the decision was made by the then Australian Rugby Union to cull one of its five franchises.
Despite then chairman Cameron Clyne saying he hoped they would have a decision on who to keep between the Rebels and Western Force within “48-72 hours”, it took the governing body four months to settle on keeping the Melbourne-based side.
The Force, who took the decision to the Supreme Court, eventually returned to Super Rugby in 2020 after RA reached out to them to re-join an Australian only tournament following the onset of Covid-19.
Ben
Roar Rookie
Good God, RA is a complete dogshow at the moment. Mind you, us Saffers we had 25 years of provincial infighting and political inteference before we just sobered up and gave dictatorial powers to one man who knew what he was doing. Haven't heard a peep from SARU in 6 years. C'mon Aussies, find your Rassie!
Footy Franks
Roar Rookie
Yeah I go to school and club rugby and no one even talks about super rugby. No one gives a toss about it or the tahs. They don’t represent the rugby community.
Around the Ankles
Roar Rookie
A man in possession of 2 brain cells to rub together would see the logic of combining the Pasifika and Rebels franchise. The same man would see that the $1.7m that RA didn’t deliver would’ve made no difference, akin to repairing a leaky ship with Clag. So assuming the Rebels management aren’t stupid it would seem their decision making is governed by BSD ego.
NotKev
Roar Rookie
I dont know what you were reading mate, ppl didint want to leave super as fans, ppl were pissed off when it happened, i think you are reading your own propaganda and maybe showing your youth and naievity .... no Saffa will ever agree with you we wanted to leave, but every Saffa will in retrospect day it was the best thing to happen to us in hindsight
Gary
Roar Rookie
Perth has a long history with it's grass roots comp, and a large expat community from rugby playing nations... rugby has a long established footprint in WA that some on the eastern seaboard just don't realise, or acknowledge. Melbourne seems to have an almost monocultural sporting env, and the Rebels just never had the same grass roots support as the Force. Having Twiggy as a benefactor has also helped, specifically with maintaing a Force presence during the exiled years and seeing their re-introduction into the sr comp.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
So why not invited to SRP at the start. They are being invited in 2026 or 2025 depending the Rebels. They also applied for the URC believing that SR was over. If it was just for Covifmd why did NZR first suggest only 3 Oz teams.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
Not sure how to take that. Plenty leagues and clubs in soccer are built on selling on players. Not sure why Oz league wouls be no different. Asian champions league has good money that the top teams can also tap into. Being English speakers and easir to get visas Oz would be a good place to shop from. Soccer is also heading to multi ckubs owners so like City other big clubs will look to buy out clubs in good markets.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
Fair point about the sport being woven into the structure of WA, SA and Vic. But it wasn't in Sydney, and the Swans have just set a new membership record despite GWS also having 30,000 members themselves. That is new support, in a place the AFL had very limited background. Doesn't mean it is easy, but also doesn't mean it can't be done or doesn't grow the game either. Would say it can't be done without an invested broadcaster/propagandist though, and that more than anything is rugby's problem.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
@AndyS, I get your point but it ignores the realities of each of the codes. The fact is that Melb has many teams and the fanbase has developed over a hundred-odd years. The thought exercise of "what if Melb had only one team" is completely divorced from reality, like saying "what if USA was only 10m people". Adding Perth and Adelaide drew on critical mass existing fanbases, just like adding the Broncos drew on an existing fanbase. When they expanded, the games for those codes were already on FTA and dominated the sports reports, the sports were woven into the culture already. Aus Rugby simply doesn't have any of that. The experience of AFL and NRL is largely irrelevant. Could Brisbane have 2-4 pro rugby teams and would the audience grow to support them? Theoretically, of course. But the reality is it barely supports one team and the money needed to build and sustain 2-4 simply does not exist. The what-if question is pie-in-the-sky. In effect, the history of SR has been the experiment on what Aus rugby can sustain. It's been run over the course of a few decades, so that's a reliable timespan to come to conclusions about the future. The results are in: we struggle to sustain 5 sides.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Not to mention that the word "rebel" can be seen as a bit of an insult in Pacific Island communities. Their cultures are community-based with a strong sense of the collective; you don't rebel unless you have VERY good reason to - yikes!). You can see this in the languages, for example: in Maori, Fijian and other languages, there are no plural or collective plural forms; only the singular collective. So it's Maori, not Maoris, and Fijian (or kai viti), not Fijians (or kai vitis :laughing: )
AndyS
Roar Rookie
I'm sure they'd be thrilled to welcome them, on the same terms Sanzar applied to the Sunwolves....
AndyS
Roar Rookie
So to be clear, if the AFL only had one team in Melbourne, you believe it would have 800,000 members and the sport would have the same viewers per game? It is something intuitively obvious, but there probably is evidence there somewhere. When they added the addition AFL teams in Perth and Adelaide, were the total memberships and viewing numbers unchanged and just split across the two teams, or did the new team find a new audience? I suspect it is pretty clearly the latter, otherwise the Eagles would have previously massively dominated the membership numbers and wouldn't now be clear of 100k.
ScottD
Roar Guru
That's a serious ride mate.
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
Stayed at Norseman before our trek across the Nullarbor. Some mates and I rode from Perth to Brisbane 7000k on motorbike.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Yes, agreed. In any case with the way the game's been conceived it could be the Wallabies will have to merge with all the other franchises soon. Long dialectical discussions are where ideas are tested out and the other point of view is examined. I remember Obama would sometimes set up two policy advisors on opposing sides and get them to debate at length on a subject, as he thought that was the only way to get a full understanding of the subject. As long as the Roar's erratic notification software tells you someone has answered that is.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
More likely going in circles. Herbert needs to work fast. He needs a vision and strategy to capture the hearts and minds of the rugby fraternity, followed by a new Constitution which bolts them on to the future success of the game.
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
I know a barrister who punts all the time. Placed a bet on a horse that lost because the race had already run, but was too embarrassed to go and get his money back.
ScottD
Roar Guru
I was at the Laverton (about 3 hrs drive north east of Kalgoorlie and on the edge of the desert) races one year (about 30 years ago), there were about 12 horses turned up and there were 5 races with 4-5 horses in each race. Each horse therefore raced 2-3 times. In one race 4 horses started and one bucked off the jockey, then jumped the rail and took off bush. They caught it but had to retire it for the day. I thought that was pretty novel but because it was hot and dusty, prior to the next race they decided to water the course with a water cart. The starter got confused and the water cart was still coming down the home stretch when he started the race. People were taking bets on the side as to whether the water cart would finish first or the horses. The water cart finished first only because the horses got to it about 50m before the finish line and baulked at passing it. Country races, you have to love ’em.
Gkl
Roar Rookie
Hi CD Another great reveal. Why are rugby supporters not told of this from RA directly. Is RA trustworthy, transparent, honest and loyal? Is This the first stage of the RA reset for Australian rugby? Should RA withdraw from super rugby altogether and join the ranks of league?????
piru
Roar Rookie
No different to North vs South island mate, gotta have a rival