O’Neil on the bench, not the chair at ARU

Cartoon: Rod Clement.

It would have been one of the more intriguing comebacks in sport, but Margin Call is hearing that despite some serious courting, John O’Neill is not going to pursue the Australian Rugby Union chairman role.

The end to a disappointing 2019 can’t come soon enough for rugby types, keen to put the Israel Folau saga and a disappointing Wallabies World Cup performance behind them.

But the start of 2020 looks to be just as tumultuous, what with the jockeying for the ARU chair, which will be vacated by the embattled Cameron Clyne by the time the sport’s annual meeting is held in March.

This newspaper on Monday revealed that O’Neill was being approached to be chair, which would mark his third stint in a leadership role at the ARU after a star turn as chief executive ended in 2004, and a less happy time in the same role between 2007 and 2012.

But after a frisson of excitement about the idea, O’Neill is understood to have decided his roles as chair of the ASX-listed Star Entertainment Group and Queensland Airports are probably a better use of his time than trying to navigate rugby’s usually treacherous political waters. He is also likely to end up with a role working on Queensland’s 2032 Olympic bid.

So who should replace Clyne then? Andrew Forrest is one name bandied around, though it is unlikely the billionaire would spend too much time on rugby pursuits. Another name mooted is the chairman of the NSW Waratahs, Roger Davis.

That could make things uncomfortable for ARU chief executive Raelene Castle, given Davis has said publicly Castle needs to deliver a significant uplift in broadcasting dollars when a deal is struck with someone (anyone?) by mid-2020.

But Castle is said to be on thin ice anyway, with ARU deputy chairman Brett Robinson one potential replacement should she move on. Never a dull moment off the field for rugby.

Then again, there’s plenty of fun happening off the track at the Victoria Racing Club, too.

The home of the Melbourne Cup has its board elections decided next week, when it will be revealed whether Amanda Elliott gets her ambassador role if CEO Neil Wilson steps up to the chair. One potential name being mentioned in dispatches to replace Wilson under that scenario is Crown executive Peter Crinis.

As ever in racing, first past the post won’t be known until the race happens. In this case, the VRC AGM is next Wednesday — two days after voting for board roles closes.

Polo Paradice

It has been a massive year for Australians on the sporting field. Think the likes of tennis superstar and world No 1 Ash Barty, cricket’s Ashes hero Steve Smith and the referees in the NRL grand final (yep, we’re still bitter).

But Margin Call reckons all this pales in comparison to the efforts of stock picker David Paradice, which seems to have escaped the attention of the wider public — until now.

Paradice, now back in Sydney these days after a few years picking equity winners based in Denver, was part of one of the bigger David (literally) and Goliath stories in sport in 2019 when he helped steer the Scone polo team to victory in the prestigious Queens Cup in England mid-year.

As the name suggests, the tournament is named after none other than Queen Elizabeth — who was there in person to present our hero Para with the winning trophy after Scone defeated the Park Place team in the final.

David Paradice meets the Queen

The result was an upset given Park Place is owned by Russian fugitive billionaire Andrey Borodin, who is said to even have a taster for his food in case it is poisoned (Paradice, by contrast, is said to have no taste when it comes to fashion.)

Paradice took over the Scone team from James Packer in 2015, along with the billionaire’s mother Ros, but his team budget was far below that of Borodin’s. To the delight of his friends, Paradice even managed to foul the Russian during the Queens Cup final to cap an amazing run in a tournament that his team had started slowly only to build up a head of steam as it went on.

The big win has made Paradice a celebrity in polo circles, with no less than one magazine cover glamour shoot and another in-depth interview in a recent edition of Polo Times. Pictures of the great man with the Queen have been a hit with his mates, we’re reliably informed.

Intriguingly, Para is said to have also been scoping out some business opportunities in Britain during the tournament.

His Paradice Investment Management already manages more than $17bn from its Sydney headquarters, though this year it added a global emerging markets team in San Francisco to the existing global mid-cap team based in Denver.

England could be next on the cards, with whispers that Paradice wants to set up a team specifically for a global large cap fund there.

Which would be almost as exciting as meeting the Queen this year.

Happy holiday

And with that, this column takes a scarcely-deserved break until we’re back in action withJayne Hrdlicka, Harry Triguboff, Lindsay Fox, Josh Frydenberg and a cast of others at the business end of the Australian Open tennis in January.

Ian Malouf at his office in Double Bay in Sydney. Picture: John Feder.

Until then, we’ll be spending our summer break flitting between the St Tropez bureau, Mar-a-Lago and Ian Malouf ’s superyacht Mischief. In our dreams.