Future of Rugby chair in balance ahead of emergency board meeting
Rugby Australia directors held an emergency board meeting on Saturday to discuss the fate of its embattled chairman, Hamish McLennan, after six member unions demanded his immediate resignation overnight.
A defiant Mr McLennan told The Australian Financial Review that the state unions were acting in their own self-interest, accusing them of preparing a “smear campaign” against him. “Very grubby stuff,” he said.
Hamish McLennan described the actions of six state unions against him as “grubby”. Steven Siewert
The member unions, led by Queensland Rugby chairman Brett Clark, wrote to Mr McLennan late on Friday demanding he step aside over concerns he had not acted in the best interests of the game.
The unions – from Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and the ACT – gave Mr McLennan until Saturday afternoon to consider his position.
“The truth is that this is led by Brett Clark, Matt Nobbs and a few other identities sitting in the shadows,” Mr McLennan said. “I’ve been told they’ll run a smear campaign if I don’t acquiesce to their plans, and they’ve engaged advisors to help them do it.”
The letter, which has since been made public, said the move had nothing to do with Rugby Australia’s plans to create a united high-performance structure or take control of their commercial decisions.
“We no longer have any truth or faith in his leadership, or the direction in which he is taking rugby in Australia,” the letter reads.
“His decisions and ‘captain’s picks’ have directly led to an historic failure at the men’s Rugby World Cup and a Wallabies international ranking at a historic low, with all the regrettable and public fallout that came with it.”
Australian rugby descended into turmoil
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