NT Rugby chair Gary Russell joins call for Hamish McLennan’s resignation

The NT Rugby Union has joined a chorus of voices calling for the resignation of Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan after the sport reached a “low point”.

NT Rugby has joined a chorus of member unions calling for the resignation of Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan after a tumultuous year which has seen the sport plummet.

NT chairman Gary Russell was one of six signatories, alongside Queensland, SA, Tasmania, WA and ACT chairs, after feeling decisions made by the peak body had alienated grassroots footy.

It comes in a year in which the Wallabies dropped out of the World Cup in the pool stages, while coaches Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones both departed from the national team.

In a letter to the board the six unions said they “do not believe Mr McLennan has been acting in the best interests of our game”.

Australian Rugby Union chairman Hamish McLennan has lost the trust of his member unions. Australia. Picture: SAEED KHAN / AFP

“We no longer have any trust or faith in his leadership, or the direction in which he is taking rugby in Australia.

“Additionally, we believe Mr McLennan has been acting outside his role as a director, exerting an undue influence on the operations and executives of Rugby Australia.

“During the past 12 months Mr McLennan has made a series of calls that have harmed the standing and reputation of our game and led us to question his judgement.”

The letter goes on the state if McLennan does not stand down from the role, then the unions would call for an Extraordinary General Meeting at the earliest possible opportunity.

The call comes ahead of what should be a golden decade for the game with the 2025 British and Irish Lions, 2027 World Cup and 2029 Women’s World Cup all in Australia.

For the NT it also comes down to the alienation of the grassroots game over the past decade, which is the foundation of the game in the Top End.

NT Rugby players and coaches gather ahead of the 2023 Darwin Rugby season.. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“The sport has hit a low point on the back of some decisions over the past year or two,” Russell said.

“There needs to be some structural change in the way the game is organised and run, given Hamish’s past track record we have lost confidence in his ability to steer us back.

“At the end of the day success at the top as in Wallabies or Wallaroos is what generates additional funding and excitement in people wanting to play the game.

“While things are at a low point we’re seeing less people taking up the game, which is our priority in the Territory, getting kids to play the game and having a good time together.

“But when our national leadership makes decisions that alienate us from other sporting codes, it makes our job much harder to compete in an already limited pool of players, coaches and officials.”