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Waratahs 2016

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Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
No one mentioning it seems that Greg Harris - CEO for the Tahs since only March - has resigned from December, the end of his contract. Very short stay.


I don't think anyone knew until now.

The article in The Australian today seems to be the first word of it.
 

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
I don't think anyone knew until now.

The article in The Australian today seems to be the first word of it.

Maybe.

Whatever, if we end up with the Tahs and Reds organisations in varying states of commercial fragility and managerial chaos (though perhaps for different reasons), that state of affairs will not be good for Australian rugby.
 

neilc

Bob Loudon (25)
No one mentioning it seems that Greg Harris - CEO for the Tahs since only March - has resigned from December, the end of his contract. Very short stay.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...loping-wallabies/story-e6frg7v6-1227495514871

That is odd, and concerning.

Was the challenge, and the real inner circumstances of the Tahs' finances and so on, far worse/harder than he had thought?


Very surprising, considering he came from RUPA and was heralded as the best sports administrator around who was going to really sort things out at the Tahs. It sounds like some people there really put up resistance to change. From the chairman's quote it certainly sounds as if he wasn't pushed out but just frustrated by the whole setup. It's disappointing because we need a strong and well run NSW setup given the population base there.
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Article is stuck behind the paywall, and there is nothing that google is picking up yet.

Surprising move, but there is hope for @Pfitzy for CEO of the Tahs.

Remember that the Waratahs are a commercial body to run the Waratah team and are a completely separate entity to the spaghetti diagram of vested interests that administer rugby in NSW - Schools Rugby & Schools Association Rugby, Premier Clubs, Junior Village Clubs, Suburban Rugby, Country Rugby, Country Schools rugby (still sort of hanging in there), Country Junior Rugby, State Junior Rugby, State Schools rugby, NRC Rugby Franchises and so on. A lot of cats to herd.

Edit: Google "Only two states developing Wallabies" to get the article.

Interesting article. Forgot that the Waratahs inc only had 5 years to run the Super Rugby Licence on behalf of NSW RU, and it looks like there are moves afoot to not renew that licence, so the Waratahs are being reabsorbed into NSW RU.

There was a fair bit of hostile press directed to the previous NSW RU board, much of it seemingly deserved. Greg must have assessed that suddenly nothing has changed and declined to renew his contract at first opportunity, rather than take on "The Establishment" that is NSW RU.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
As a former junior village club secretary and junior district president, all the while a keen and involved supporter of the relevant senior club, I was intimately entangled in "the spaghetti diagram of vested interests that administer rugby in NSW". The structure for a junior club in Sydney goes like this:
village club>district club>zone>Sydney JRU>NSW JRU> Australian JRU although there's a tangental line of command/administration from the NSW JRU to the NSWRU. I'll give you an example: Hillview JRU>Eastwood JRU>Sydney Metropolitan Western Zone>Sydney JRU>NSW JRU>Australian JRU. There's very little for the Sydney/NSW/Australian JRUs to do other than put together a few rep teams.

The meetings, AAARRRHHH! There were regular monthly meetings for village club and zone and AGMs for the Sydney and NSW JRUs. I never got a bait to the Oz AGM, thank God. Most of the legwork's done at village level (for the club) and zone level (organising competitions), the districts' only role is to organise and run the rep sides leading up to the State championships on the June long weekend. But, no, some dickheads insisted the district clubs have their meetings with agendas to decide Christ knows what, things which could easily have been thrashed out with a few phone calls between the village club secretaries. The first thing I did on taking on the district mantle was to cancel all meetings; didn't go down too well with some. The organisational structure of junior rugby in Sydney could do with a major overhaul.

While I was doing my bit at the coal face of junior rugby administration in Sydney I often wondered WTF the NSWRU do. Here's my take on who does what:

Waratahs super team - managed and administered by Waratahs Rugby Pty Ltd (Roger Davis, Al Baxter et al).
Sydney Premier Rugby (Shute Shield, lower grades and colts) - Sydney Rugby Union (revived in 2010 as the Premier clubs wanted to run the comp and control their destiny).
Sydney subbies - NSW Suburban Rugby Union.
Sydney schools rugby - various school bodies, GPS, CAS, CHS, ISA, AICES, CCC, WAS, etc. ACT/NSW/Qld/Australian Schools RUs put together the rep sides.
Sydney juniors - Sydney Junior Rugby Union (competitions're organised by the zones).
NSW country rugby - NSW Country Rugby Union (most of the heavy lifting's done by the regional unions, Newcastle Hunter RU, Central West RU, Illawarra RU, etc.).
Country juniors - NSW Country Junior Rugby Union (regional unions again).

The only comp/body I can see the NSWRU directly administers is women's rugby, however I could be wrong here. For some time in the 1990s/2000s the NSWRU handed over administration for junior rugby to the ARU, something else they didn't have to do, but it's since come back. BTW, Queensland didn't ever let the ARU get its paws on their junior admin. Other than that I can't find a/think of what meaningful role the NSWRU performs to the betterment of rugby in this state. The Tahs could quite competently be managed by an expert sub-committee with a few professional sports administrators seconded for the task. WTF does Mick Mathers and his NSWRU committee do? Does rugby in NSW need two senior committees (NSWRU and Waratahs), two sets of snouts to feed in the shallow trough? Comments please.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Following a New South Wales Rugby Union Limited Board meeting held on Friday 21 August 2015, the following structural changes were resolved regarding the administrative body NSW Rugby Union and the commercial entity responsible for the management of the NSW Waratahs:

  • Two boards will be retained, to oversee NSW Waratahs Limited (WL) and New South Wales Rugby Union Limited (NSWRU).

  • A Group Chairman will oversee the running of both boards, and there will be a single CEO overseeing both organisations. The Group Chairman position will be taken up by current NSW Waratahs Limited Chairman Roger Davis until at least the end of 2016.

  • The current Trade Mark Licence agreement will be extended for a further five years, whereby NSWRU grant WL use of trademarks to run the professional team and participate in the Super Rugby competition.

  • Kerry Chikarovski, current NSWRU Director and Chair of Woman’s Rugby in NSW, will join the Board of WL effective immediately as part of the reform.
An agreed outcome of the new structure is to go to market for a CEO who will oversee both the professional and community components of the game. This process will commence shortly with the aim to have a preferred candidate appointed before the end of the year.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
Interestingly in the Growden article that jagman linked to in another thread it implied Harris' departure was due to Pulver trying to push his preferred governance model on.

The way it's panned out, either that's seemingly not true, or he was not interested in overseeing the NSWRU part as well, and only wanted to deal with the professional aspect.

That's how I read it anyway.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Think there was a bit of friction behind the scenes between the NSWRU and Waratah Inc. The NSWRU won.
 

p.Tah

John Thornett (49)
If I recall correctly, Matt Carroll who was 2IC at the ARU at the time, said the only way the Wararaths/NSWRU split could work was if the was one CEO for both groups. That was 2010/2011.
 

Tomikin

Simon Poidevin (60)
You guys could sign Richard Graham to be CEO, the boys above the tweed won't mind letting go, for a better opportunity.. as tough as it would be..
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
While I'm on my organisational crusade, WTF does every senior union feel it's necessary to have both a Chairman AND a President? Just another snout in the trough.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
President more the figurehead who can do some of the dignitary duties. Chairman there for their governances abilities more than anything.

In QLD the President acts as a conduit between the voting members and the board as well.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Interesting to see the speculation around the potential for a new stadium on the site of Allianz Stadium with increased capacity.

Would be great to have a Suncorp-style 55k arena, though it could be a bit cavernous when we play the Cheetahs.
.
 

Hawko

Tony Shaw (54)
Interesting to see the speculation around the potential for a new stadium on the site of Allianz Stadium with increased capacity.

Would be great to have a Suncorp-style 55k arena, though it could be a bit cavernous when we play the Cheetahs.
.


As I read the proposal it actually goes on the ground the Waratahs train on. But it will cost an absolute fortune and traffic issues will be a nightmare. My money would be on a redevelopment of the existing stadium to fit another 5-10K patrons.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Isn't there a exclusivity agreement in place with ANZ Stadium which prevents any major expansion of Allianz?


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barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
I think that may have expired, TOCC.

Hawko- agree, not sure I see the need for a whole new stadium. Location could be on the training ground, or on the existing site (Tele and SMH had different reports).

Traffic issues should be slightly alleviated by the light rail, which would eliminate the need for buses from Central.
.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
I just read that article, one little tidbit at the end is a bit worrying, in that the NRL could be given management rights to the SFS as part off the deal.


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