Australian Rugby’s 2023 Year in Review: Eddie Jones, Hamish McLennan, Joseph Suaalii a Wallabies implosion
The World Cup was a shambles, there was upheaval on and off the field, and the Wallabies’ most exciting star signed a deal in the NRL. JAMIE PANDARAM dissects Australian rugby’s most tumultuous year on record.
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As far as tumultuous years in Australian rugby go – and there have been a few over the past two decades – 2023 takes the cake as the worst on record.
Chairman, gone. Chief executive, gone. Wallabies coaches and captain, gone.
Rugby World Cup, an unmitigated disaster.
The Wallabies’ most exciting star signing a deal to play in the NRL.
And now, the Melbourne Rebels in financial peril.
Poor old rugby fans have been thinking for some time that the only is up. But surely, that will ring true next year, because it’s difficult to imagine the game sinking any lower.
The drama began just 16 days into the year.
Eddie Jones, who had been fired by the RFU for poor performances as coach of England, was signed to a five-year deal by Rugby Australia to take charge of the Wallabies and Wallaroos.
The move was driven by then chairman Hamish McLennan, with the support of the board.
Rennie learned the news via a 6am Zoom call from then chief executive Andy Marinos, while the man who would later replace him, Phil Waugh, flew to Queensland to settle the terms of his exit, which included RA paying him until the end of the year.
The news shocked all, including Wallabies players who’d urged RA to stick with Rennie in their 2022 review meetings.
But there was a glimmer of hope that Jones could muster some of his magic dust and take the bumbling team deep into the World Cup.
Then two months later, McLennan made his second big move, signing NRL star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to a record-breaking $5.35 million deal from 2025-27.
It was the biggest cross-code signing in years and a clear message to the NRL that rugby was coming for its stars, McLennan said.
But it annoyed the Wallabies players no end, given they’d been repeatedly told the game was cash-strapped and many had taken pay cuts to be eligible for the World Cup.
The signing was also opposed by Marinos, who associates said felt blindsided by several of McLennan’s decisions.
The relationship deteriorated to the point Marinos and McLennan were barely on speaking terms.
On May 1, it was confirmed Marinos was resigning as RA’s chief executive. He signed an agreement not to publicly disparage the organisation.
Waugh was announced as RA’s new chief on June 6.
Those hopes quickly began disappearing game after game, as Jones’ second tenure in charge yielded five losses from five games before the tournament began.
Then the bombshell; Jones axed Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley from his World Cup squad, and made Will Skelton captain of the team.
Long-time Wallabies skipper Hooper was denied a farewell World Cup campaign, and supporters were in disbelief that Jones was placing all of his playmaking hopes on rookie Carter Gordon.
Their campaign began with a promising 35-15 win over Georgia, but when Fiji stunned the Wallabies 22-15 in their next pool match, the worst possible result of being eliminated before the playoffs emerged.
It was all but confirmed the following week when Wales thrashed Australia 40-6, and at the same time it emerged Jones had spoken to a recruiting firm about the vacant head coaching job of Japan, which he denied at the time.
Australia defeated Portugal in their final game but it was too late; Wales and Fiji advanced from the pool group and for the first time in history, the Wallabies did not feature in the World Cup finals.
Jones continued to deny links to the Japan job, while McLennan and Waugh said they believed him.
But as RA failed to get private equity investment, and their plan to centralise all rugby operations – clauses that gave Jones an out of his five-year deal – the coach eventually resigned on October 31.
The debacle heaped pressure on McLennan, and eventually the states began to move against the chairman.
They were incensed at the prospect of being financially taken over by RA, and on November 17 released a public statement demanding his removal.
Following a boardroom vote, former Wallabies World Cup winner Daniel Herbert was declared RA’s new chairman, and McLennan’s tenure was officially over.
Herbert and Waugh vowed to listen to the states and find a mutually agreeable path forward for centralisation.
RA also took on an $80 million loan over five years through Pacific Equity Partners to keep the game afloat, desperately hoping the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour, and 2027 home World Cup, will recoup that loan and more to set rugby up for prosperity.
But there are immediate concerns that the Rebels won’t be around to see that day.
The Super Rugby franchise has debt of $9 million, and while RA is desperate to keep five teams, they’re not in a position to bail Melbourne out. Unless there is a massive influx of commercial revenue, or a private investor willing to pay the debt, the Rebels’ future beyond 2024 is uncertain.
And a time RA needs every marketing edge, the decision by Mark Nawaqanitawase – one of the Wallabies’ few stars and the initial face of their 2025 Lions campaign – to join the NRL club Sydney Roosters after next season was a crushing blow.
Jones, who’d said Hooper, Cooper and Foley weren’t “good role models” for the Wallabies after the World Cup, was confirmed as Japan’s head coach on December 14.
However, in rugby’s darkest year, there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
Waugh managed to secure the respected Peter Horne as RA’s head of high performance just before Christmas. And in a double bonus, the highly capable David Nucifora, who was pivotal in transforming Ireland into the world’s No.1 team, has also decided to return to RA midway through next year.
The search for a Wallabies coach is ongoing, with Joe Schmidt among a field of candidates that also include Stephen Larkham, Michael Cheika and Dan McKellar.
The Wallaroos also have their first full-time coach in English legend Jo Yapp, who is the only female head coach of a senior Australian team across all football codes.
So while 2023 has been a case of Murphy’s Law for Australian rugby, these crucial appointments late in the year give cause for optimism.
For all the blows and losses RA has taken these past 12 months, important lessons have been provided for a new regime that must swiftly and decisively turn the game around, land a broadcast deal that keeps them afloat, and regain the trust of long-suffering supporters who have come to expect mediocrity.
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Originally published as Australian Rugby’s 2023 Year in Review: Eddie Jones, Hamish McLennan, Joseph Suaalii a Wallabies implosion
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