Australian Rugby Union boss Cameron Clyne discusses his recent spat with Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest

Former NAB boss Cameron Cyne parachuted in to Brisbane on Thursday to talk everything Rugby with the Gregory Terrace Old Boys Association.

Australian Rugby Union chairman Cameron Clyne.

THICK SKIN

CAMERON Clyne must have a pretty thick skin by now.

The former NAB supremo took the helm of one of our big four banks in 2009 just as the world was reeling from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

More recently, in his capacity as head of Australian Rugby Union, Clyne has crossed swords with billionaire mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy’’ Forrest.

The two men just had a very public spat over Clyne’s move to dump Forrest’s beloved Western Force from the Super Rugby competition.

Forrest denounced the move as a “charade’’ and called for Clyne’s scalp but the gents have made amends since then.

Cameron Clyne illustration by Tony Bela.

Clyne, a lifelong rugby tragic who used to play for Victoria against the All Blacks and Springboks, parachuted in to Brisbane on Thursday to chat about much of this drama.

Taking a break from wrangling cattle at his farm in the NSW southern highlands, he addressed the annual Gregory Terrace Old Boys Association fundraising breakfast at City Hall.

Not lost on the 200-strong crowd was the fact that Clyne’s decision to axe the Force will help the Queensland Reds and Queensland Rugby Union since they will have greater access to a limited pool of players.

Coincidentally or not, spied among the crowd were QRU top guns Damien Frawley and Richard Barker.

As one of our sources noted, Frawley’s career trajectory of rugby player-turned-banker-turned sports chairman bears an eerie similarity to that of Clyne’s.

Also spotted in the room was footy legend Darren Lockyer and a swag of bizoids, including Damian Wright, Bernard Curran, Geoff Rodgers, Anthony Ryan, John Tyquin, Jeff Gates, Bruce Humphries, Steve Grant and Shaun Canniffe.

They were heartened to hear Clyne predict a Wallabies win over the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup a week from Saturday at Suncorp Stadium.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

QUEENSLAND’S biggest hunger relief outfit plans to release a shocking report on Monday.

It reveals a 13 per cent spike in people seeking “food relief’’ over the past year as the cost of living puts the squeeze on a growing number of battlers.

Foodbank boss Michael Rose said the study found nearly half of those struggling to feed themselves and their families are actually employed.

“It’s hard to believe that we’re experiencing a hunger crisis in the ‘Lucky Country’ but our report provides a dose of reality on just how prevalent food insecurity is in our own state,’’ Rose said.

Incredibly, about 3.6 million Australians, or 15 per cent of the population, have experienced uncertainty about the source of their next meal in the past 12 months.

70 YEARS YOUNG

THEY’VE left their mark right across the state.

The gang at award-winning TVS Architects uncorked the good stuff last night to celebrate 70 years in the game.

Boss Michael Kisluk presided over the knees up at the Queensland Terrace of the State Library which, not surprisingly, attracted plenty of building industry players.

More than 100 guests downed drinks and munched on canapés as they gazed out the CBD skyline. Among them were Robert Gittens, Matthew Gross, Sebastian Monsour, Stuart Lummis, Nic De Luca, Robert Dunne and Matt Leyshon.

TVS originally started out as a mob called Prangley & Crofts in 1947 and then morphed in to the TVS Partnership in 1990 before pivoting again to its current name.

Kisluk said the bash happily coincided with one of those periodic rebrandings, which has seen the firm wheel out a revamped logo and new marketing campaign.

TVS also has three new directors, with Peter Justo, Brett Harbourne and Nicholas George taking on the roles.