Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert outlines vision to restore Wallabies’ brand
Daniel Herbert addresses the public feuding that has engulfed the game, how the Wallabies’ brand can be restored, why it’s time to stop blaming the NRL for rugby’s problems — and more!
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Every road to recovery starts with a plea for patience.
For Rugby Australia, the long process to heal the game’s gaping wounds has begun with a simple call for help and understanding.
In his first full sit-down interview since taking over as RA’s newly elected chairman, Daniel Herbert has outlined his vision to restore the Wallabies’ tarnished brand and regain the public’s trust.
Addressing a wide range of issues, including the decision to sack Dave Rennie as Wallabies’ coach and replace him with Eddie Jones for the doomed World Cup campaign, Herbert also revealed the true state of RA’s financial status while conceding there’s no quick fix and he doesn’t have all the answers.
But the former World Cup winner was certain about one thing: the first step that has to happen is a truce to the bitter public feuding that has engulfed the game after the Wallabies’ disastrous World Cup.
THE BLAME GAME
As a member of the last Wallabies team to win the World Cup in 1999, Herbert achieved everything the game has to offer during his playing career, so understands all the frustrations and anger and disillusionment at how far the code has sunk since the glory days.
But he also believes that the petty squabbling and finger pointing that continues to divide the game won’t fix anything.
“I don’t think it does the game any good when this dirty laundry is aired in public,” Herbert said.
“I always think that the nuclear option that you take is the very last resort.”
Refusing to return fire against his predecessor Hamish McLennan, who claimed he was overthrown by a Queensland-led coup, or taking aim at outspoken critics like Alan Jones, Herbert said it’s time to wipe the slate clean.
“It’s just time to move forward,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of spinning plates that we just need to sort out and there’s a lot to do so that’s my focus.”
FULL INTERVIEW: Read the transcript of Daniel Herbert’s sit-down interview
MCLENNAN’S MESSY EXIT
McLennan has slammed the state and territory unions after they submitted a letter calling on him to resign as chairman in the fallout from the failed World Cup campaign. He was later voted out by board members, then accused Herbert of being part of a Queensland ‘takeover’.
Without wanting to inflame the matter, Herbert rejected any notion of a coup, saying:
“I can’t tell you why the member unions did what they did. They were pretty clear in their letter why they took that action. But it’s not for me to say what they did or their actions. All we could deal with as a board was the letter came through, we then had to take some action around that and then spent last weekend sitting down and discussing all of the various things that have been said and then the way forward for rugby.”
McLennan also said it was unfair he was being made a scapegoat for his so-called ‘captain’s call’ to dump Rennie and appoint Jones as the new head coach less than a year before the World Cup.
Despite being widely applauded at the time, the gamble backfired, with the Wallabies missing the playoffs for the first time after losing their pool matches to Fiji and Wales.
Herbert confirmed the board did agree to support McLennan’s decision, but said it was primarily his call.
“He certainly drove that and he’s on the record saying that he was the key driver in those decisions. They were socialised and that’s what he said. I would say that’s correct, he did socialise. And you have a discussion as a board and then whether you agree with that or don’t, you get behind what decision is taken.”
FINDING A NEW COACH
Herbert said the appointment of the next Wallabies’ coach will follow a different process.
Rather than a ‘captain’s call’, there will be no rush to get a replacement, with the Wallabies not due to play again until mid 2024. RA’s first priority will be to appoint a director of high performance who will oversee the running of the professional game, including the decision over the next coach.
“We’re in the process of appointing a Wallaroos coach. We’re in the process of appointing a high performance director. They’re two key appointments that we need to make before we can then look at the Wallaby coach. We need to reform the high performance aspect of the game.
“My personal view and I haven’t discussed this at a board level, is it doesn’t matter (if the next coach is an Australian). I think what matters is you’ve got to get the best candidate and the best fit for the group and the position that they’re in. I’ve got a lot of my colleagues and ex-players who have a different view. I know that stat that no (foreign coach) has ever won the World Cup but it’s going to happen at some stage and it’s happened in plenty of other sports.
“We haven’t had a system that’s been developing coaches, so we’ve got a pretty shallow pool in my view of ready to go international coaches and that’s part of that high performance model that fell away many years ago and needs to be reintroduced.”
CENTRALISATION
The buzzword for fixing Australian rugby is to unite all the states and adopt a centralised approach, similar to that other leading countries already have.
It’s been attempted twice before but rejected both times because not everyone agreed on the way forward. Herbert said it had to happen and needed a more collaborative approach to get through.
“It’s been demonstrated that it works. What Ireland have done, what New Zealand have done, Scotland are doing, England are about to do it next year. So all of the big teams in the world are moving to a more centralised united model and we’re working to the same system that we have always had.
“We need to make sure that we can build that trust. We’re not sitting here saying Rugby Australia has all the answers and this is the way we’re going to do it. We’re saying, ‘let’s get into a room, here’s what we think the principles are and let’s get everything out in terms of what your fears are and what the reason that you’ve had not to support this in the past.
“We need to all agree on the non-negotiables and the Wallabies performing at their optimum has to be a non-negotiable… because in the past, we’ve had Wallaby coaches turn up to state training, turned away and told ‘you’re not welcome so go away’.”
THE TALENT DRAIN
One of the biggest misconceptions about the failing fortunes of Australia rugby is that the Wallabies don’t have enough talent to compete on the world stage because their best players keep getting poached.
Herbert disagrees. The 49-year-old former outside centre says there’s an abundance of talent but the players are not being managed properly so major changes need to happen.
“Our guys don’t play enough rugby, our girls don’t play enough rugby, our schools don’t play enough rugby, the clubs don’t play enough and then the representative pathways don’t play enough. You get better by playing more games, so we need to address that.
“We need another tier of competition and we need all our top players playing more.
“I think five (Super Rugby teams) is OK because there’s enough talent there. We’ve got 150 professional players playing overseas, so I don’t think talent’s an issue. And I don’t see it as you’ve got to get all the rock stars coming out of school. We’ve got to be more accurate with who we attract or who we go after and who we get, because there is a lot of competition with NRL and AFL and basketball and other sports but there’s enough talent there to get around.
“We’re just not developing the talent we’ve got.”
THE FINANCIAL SITUATION
It’s no secret RA isn’t flush with cash at the moment, but it’s not anywhere near as dire as the critics make out. A high roller in the financial world, McLennan was instrumental in helping RA improve its bottom line and Herbert said the future looks rosy, even after the recent departure of sponsor Harvey Norman.
Contrary to many reports, Herbert said RA did not fail to secure private equity. He said RA elected to take out an $80 million debt loan because they are about to get a huge injection from hosting the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025 then the World Cups in 2027 (men) and 2029 (women).
That doesn’t mean they are about to go on a wild spending spree but Herbert said the future was not as gloomy as many were suggesting.
“We went down the road of exploring private equity. I’m glad we didn’t do it.
“We’ve got a couple of big events coming, we’ll be the epicentre of the world for rugby and we’ve got all the eyes upon us. If we’re performing well and go deep into those home tournaments and we can be really competitive with the Lions and it goes down to a final game, then that will just put rugby back on the map, in my view, and we’ll make some really good money.
“But then we’ve got to be really careful with how we use that because we can set the game up for a long, long time out of the back of that.
“In terms of sponsorship, every year you’ve got 20, 30, 40 per cent of your sponsors turning over and you’re always going to lose some. We’d been in discussions with Harvey Norman for several months and knew that they were at risk well before any of this was known and that’s just how sponsors operate. That’s just part and parcel of sponsorship of sport. I’ve spoken to most of them, left messages for a few, and they’re all really supportive.”
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