Update: Melbourne Rebels CEO Baden Stephenson and nine other members of the Super Rugby club’s administrative staff have been made redundant.
And in one of the strongest indications yet that the Rebels won’t continue beyond 2024, the team’s coaches have been put on four-month contracts to see out the season.
As well as Stephenson, five administration staff, two casual and three contractors were not offered new contracts by RA through until June 30.
Rugby Australia confirmed the news on Thursday morning, thanking Stephenson for his tenure while adding that all 17 high performance members had been retained.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), the administrator addressed Rebels staff (excluding players) to inform them of the administrator’s decision to make their roles redundant – a step that is common practice in an administration process,” the statement read.
“RA continues to engage with the administrator, government and various relevant stakeholders on the future of the Rebels beyond this season. It is expected that a decision on that future will be made before the end of Super Rugby Pacific, and therefore before the conclusion of staff contracts.”
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh will address the Rebels’ high performance and commercial staff on Thursday. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh flew to Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon and will address the Rebels, including the high performance team and commercial department, on Thursday.
Stephenson, who had been the CEO of the Rebels since 2017, hit out at Sydney journalists for death riding the franchise in December.
“In response to recent negative media coverage originating out of Sydney, the Melbourne Rebels wishes to address the speculations and set the record straight,” Stephenson said in a club statement at the time.
“Despite the unfounded speculation circulating in the media, we want to assure our supporters, stakeholders, and the wider community that the Melbourne Rebels’ future is extremely bright. Our club is unwavering in its commitment to excellence both on and off the field in 2024 and will not be distracted by those who are seeking again to harm and disrespect our community.”
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Baden Stephenson was made redundant less than a fortnight out from the start of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
By late January, however, the Rebels were placed in voluntary administration after falling into $20 million of debts, including to the Australian Taxation Office and the Melbourne and Olympic Park Trust.
Auditors from PwC appointed to investigate the club’s finances revealed the Rebels owe $11.6 million to the Tax Office, $5.7 million to board members, and $2.8 million to suppliers – which include sponsors that paid their fees upfront.
Adding to the list of debts is $1.1 million in unpaid stadium fees, $720,000 owed to the State Revenue Office and $250,000 in superannuation owed to employees.
On Monday, administrators said the club has just $17,300 in the bank, with assets consisting of office furniture, gym equipment and two cars.
News of the redundancies broke on the day the Super Rugby Pacific competition was launched in Auckland, with Waugh, New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson and Super Rugby Pacific chair Kevin Malloy in attendance.
Waugh told reporters in Auckland he would not “put a timeframe” on the Rebels’ future, while Malloy rejected the premise the competition was “under a cloud” and said Super Round would go ahead in Melbourne as planned.
“The focus is to deliver the ’24 season,” Waugh said.
“The players are preparing well, management around the team are preparing well.
“If you think about two different streams, the stream of ’24 and having as little disruption as possible and, a secondary stream, what ’25 and beyond look like.”
Rebels coach Kevin Foote has had contract taken over by Rugby Australia and extended until June 30. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
The precarious nature of the Rebels, where their future could be settled by early next month, shocked many late last year.
It’s believed the Rugby Australia board were horrified by what they saw when they saw some of the Rebels’ finances in November.
It wasn’t long before whispers started about the possibility of a return to four sides, while RA then quickly distanced themselves from trying to take over the Rebels after months of spruiking the need to centralise.
Asked how their financial position deteriorated so quickly, Waugh said the time for introspection would come in the months ahead.
“There’s always going to be a review on how it accelerates to the point of where it’s at,” he said.
“We’re close to all clubs and we’ve made comments around why it’s accelerated.
“Right now it’s around securing the performance of the team, and that’s about delivering a good on-field environment.
“How’d we end up here, how’d it accelerate? We’ll dive into that over the next period in time.”
(L-R) Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson and Super Rugby Pacific Chair Kevin Malloy at the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific Season Launch on February 14, 2024 in Auckland. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
Robinson said he had been briefed really well about the unfolding situation involving the Rebels, which could see the competition return to 11 sides in 2025.
“We caught up this morning the three of us, so we feel really engaged and involved in understanding exactly what Rugby Australia is working through, and part of that conversation is starting to think about the future,” he said.
“Logically 2026 has been the timeframe with media rights cycles if we were to think about if there’d be any material change in the competition. Clearly what’s happened with the Rebels has brought that conversation slightly.”
Wednesday’s meeting comes after two days of conversations between the trans-Tasman neighbours in Sydney.
In a separate interview with The Roar, Waugh described the meetings as “productive” but admitted they were “probably no closer to knowing” a solution the Rebels crisis, as RA tries to assess whether the country will be more or less successful and sustainable with four or five Super Rugby franchises.
“My view has always been about quality and making it the best tournament in the world,” Waugh said. If you do that, you’re going to drive interest and fan-engagement which then appeals to broadcasters.
“I think what’s the relevant jeopardy within the competition, as well as the quality and the execution to then drive value. That’s what the conversations have been around rather than saying this is what the broadcaster wants.”
It’s believed RA’s broadcaster Stan, who hold the rights until the end of next year, haven’t yet been asked what their preferred model is moving forward.
“The most important thing right now is to deliver ’24 because we’re two weeks away from the start of the season,” Waugh said.
“We’ve got so many different stakeholders in this conversation from the Victorian market, broadcasters, New Zealand Rugby, so there’s a lot of scenarios to work through.”
After the competition was changed in 2021 to include Fiji Drua and Moana Pasifika, SANZAAR is considering whether to expand the competition to include more representation from around the Pacific.
Given the television friendly time zones in the Americas, and with the United States of America to host the 2031 men’s World Cup, as well as the women’s World Cup two years later, World Rugby is also interested in whether Super Rugby can play a part in helping develop the game in the mega market.
World Rugby’s vested interest comes after the USA and Canada both missed qualification for the 2023 World Cup in France, with Chili and Uruguay emerging.
Waugh added that expansion wasn’t the immediate focus, but admitted those conversations would commence.
“I think they’re just starting to enter, which goes to what the best competition structure is and how do we ensure there’s that international component to Super Rugby, which has always been appealing, but you need the attractiveness and quality to go with it,” the decorated Wallaby said.
“I think Argentina, the west coast of the US, the west coast of Canada, Japan, all those ideas [hold merit], but we haven’t had meaningful conversations with those unions or even internally with Mark Robinson around is that the direction we want to go.”
RCV Pres
Roar Rookie
in the know
Honest Max
Roar Rookie
The NPC structure means the kiwi talent would be spread out through more teams. They’re the best rugby nation on the planet - it’s insanity to go our own way at a lower standard.
sheek
Roar Guru
Cliff Bishkek, Just to clarify, the change from ARU to RA was a cowardly attempt to escape the censure from culling WA Force. It served no other purpose: when you screw-up, re-brand. And yes, I agree, Oz pro rugby may already be terminal, we just don’t know it yet.
sheek
Roar Guru
Honest Max, I don't what to have anything to do with NZ, & I'm sure they feel the same way about us. Playing NZ just brings eternal heartache. It's one thing to have our national team thrashed by their national team, but we don't need the additional pile-on at provincial level. And developing the Pacifika is not our problem. Sorry, that sounds harsh, but it's World Rugby's job to develop the smaller nations, not Oz. Oz has enough of its own problems to sort out.
sheek
Roar Guru
Roadbike, Generic teams can work, providing they're sold well. Any idea, whether it's meritorious in the beginning or not, still has to be sold. The ARC of 2007 did some things right. They had Sydney Fleet, covering Eastern Suburbs, which should now be East Sydney Fleet. Western Sydney were the Rams. Both the Fleet & Rams tapped into the early colonial history of Sydney, which I thought was very clever. North Harbour were originally the Rays (combining sting-rays & sun-rays) but I would prefer Platters (variation for platypus), which retains the watery theme & the platypus being the state mammal/animal. Transfer NSW Waratahs to Sydney Waratahs & there's your 4 Sydney clubs. Great concept & when sold well, should work a treat. Fans can still follow their favourite Shute Shield clubs below the national comp clubs. One more thing about North Harbour Platters. They can have Harbour Lights by the '50s band The Platters as their theme song!!!
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Sheek My thought is very much, culture, where clubs 'feed up' into formal regional catchment. Cheers KP
jimmy jones
Roar Rookie
Its pretty basic JD you've been wrong in a few comments about "no grassroots" at the outset so whatever argument you've proposed has no legs, besides you're playing the 'ignorance' card, nobody said anything about being a foreigner dude.
RoadBike
Roar Rookie
They have neither business acumen, nor marketing nous. RA appear to have no vision for the future - I listened to Phil Waugh on ABC Grandstand earlier; clueless.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Hope they have a quality Commercial GM to bring in some serious sponsorship $$. Although based on the last few years don’t think RA have the staff with the business acumen to get the $$.
RoadBike
Roar Rookie
It makes some sense to be generic, eg, East, West, North, South in NSW, QLD etc., but as the UK found out, Club support has always trumped regional generic support. England tried regional rugby in the build up to the pro era, and it was a complete failure so they went back to Club Rugby – similar in Wales, where the merging of local clubs into districts has been less than successful. I honestly don’t know the answer, and I agree that simply throwing Shute Shield and Hospital Cup sides into a big pro melting pot is not the answer. Maybe the answer for the future is in Pro Club sides, but put them into Divisions [like England and France have two Pro Leagues] each. The question is who starts in the Pro Div 1 and who in Pro Div2 – a minefield. Crowd size is an issue of course, as some of the Clubs have small grounds – but SR [in Australia] is dead men playing.
sheek
Roar Guru
Kashmir Pete, This is the problem of a national club comp. You simply can't pull teams out of Shute Shield or Hospitals Cup for several reasons. 1. None of the teams are sufficiently strong enough, eg, Randwick, Eastwood, Northern Suburbs, Parramatta (geographical location), to separate them from the others. 2. Lifting all 12 Shute Shield & 9-10 Hospitals Cup clubs into a national comp wholesale would of course be a recipe for disaster. 3. Unlike AFL, which began as Melbourne-centric, or NRL, which began as Sydney-centric. If you try to have a national rugby union comp that is Sydney-centric, Queensland will go to war. Not worth it! The teams from Sydney & Brisbane have to be generic, eg, East, West, North, South.
sheek
Roar Guru
Kashmir Pete, I've always preferred the provincial model for Oz rugby because structurally it dovetails nicely into/from the premier rugby district club comps feeding into a provincial system. But a national club comp ala AFL, NRL, etc probably makes more sense with more teams based in Sydney & Brisbane, which traditionally provide the greatest number of players. So eventually, in the year 5050, we might see Sydney, North Harbour, East Sydney, West Sydney, Brisbane, South Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle, & NQ (based out of Townsville). Or those living in 5050 might read in their online history about a sport called rugby union that once existed many thousands of years ago...
sheek
Roar Guru
East Coast Aces, That's jus nonsense. One of the reasons why SR bombed in the first place was too many teams spread across too many countries in too many timezones. Like the AFL & NRL, fans want to see their teams playing at home as often as possible. It's the role of the national team to represent the country off-shore.
RoadBike
Roar Rookie
Waratahs saw it coming - likely debt similar to Rebels, with annual running costs around $5-$6 mio. The RA $80 mio drawdown facility will soon be used up [plus they have to pay the NRL recruit $5 ish mio ] - and they have to pay seriously high interest on that $80 mio, with little income to service that debt. Add to that the $5 mio it will cost RA to keep the Rebels running for 2024, and very soon RA will be in that same boat as the Rebels.
sheek
Roar Guru
ScottD, Oz rugby will end up like Monty Python’s black knight, minus both arms & both legs – “let’s call it a draw, then”. I understand what you’re saying. But we’ve gone past the point of culling. It’s now about saving those 5 provinces, even if we change them to Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth & Melbourne in national club comp. And yes, wishful thinking, to those 5 you can eventually add North Harbour, East Sydney, West Sydney, South Brisbane, Newcastle, Adelaide & NQ. It’ll be a semi-pro national comp, & those chasing the money will leave anyway, whether we keep SRP or not.
sheek
Roar Guru
Roadbike, I'm inclined to think a national provincial comp best suits Oz rugby.For starters, it has the history & tradition going back to 1882 when NSW first played Queensland. Oh wait, we could end up there again very soon! Anyway, you have 8-9 provincial city/regional comps (premier rugby district clubs), or provincial comps around Oz, feeding into, or potentially feeding into a province - NSW, Qld, ACT, WA, Vic, SA, EA (NNSW), NQ & Tas. It dovetails nicely. A 8-10 national club comp mimics other sports & can work too. But structurally works against the provincial & premier rugby district club comps.
sheek
Roar Guru
Honest Max, I'm not suggesting they play each other 4 times, 16 games over 20 weeks. No, just 8 games over 10 weeks. Yes, very small, but that is where we are. The point is, Oz pro rugby wagon train is under attack from the Indians - overseas raiders, other bigger domestic sports, etc. It's time to circle the wagons & save what we can, ie, the majority of our 5 provinces. Then when we've beaten off the attack, we can slowly rebuild. It's not a pretty situation Oz rugby is in, & we can spend forever bemoaning why. Let's just get on with it, baby steps, one foot in front of the other. As the Chinese proverb says, "the journey of a thousand miles start with the first step".
sheek
Roar Guru
nroko, I think watching a sport is a habit. I enjoy watching the NFL super bowl every year but I have no interest in watching it full-time. I try to follow Australian football & soccer but because I didn't grow up with these sports when I was young (although I played a lot of scratch soccer), my interest tends to focus only on AFL finals & FIFA world cup. I'm falling out of love with the rugby codes, but that's okay too. As I approach 70, sport doesn't hold the fascination it once did. Now it's more of a curiosity. Like, I wonder what the buffoons in a particular sport are doing these days?
Honest Max
Roar Rookie
In an administrative sense. Do these people cheer against the Tahs? What I would be the benefit?
Honest Max
Roar Rookie
So parts of Queensland will be expected to cheer for a team that plays against Queensland?