Inside Story: outgoing CEO Andy Marinos was out of step with ‘bold’ Rugby Australia

Insiders at Rugby Australia saw Andy Marinos as a handbrake on the organisation, with a deal for Samu Kerevi collapsing under his watch, the outgoing CEO also holding differing views on Eddie Jones and Joseph Suaalii.

Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones flanked by Chair Hamish McLennan, and CEO Andy Marinos. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The surprise resignation of Andy Marinos this week, was not such a shock for powerful insiders at Rugby Australia who saw the outgoing chief executive as a handbrake on the organisation as it pursued a bold, new direction.

When it was floated inside the halls of RA that it was time to bring back Eddie Jones to coach the Wallabies, Marinos proposed a different plan – instead of installing Jones as coach, make him an advisor to the then incumbent Dave Rennie.

When a vote was taken on whether RA should sign Joseph Suaalii, the only dissenting voice in the boardroom was Marinos.

Then there was the deal for arguably the Wallabies’ best player Samu Kerevi to go to the Melbourne Rebels that collapsed.

In the end the disconnect between the Marinos, who stepped down on Monday, and the direction of what rugby insiders describe as a “bold, collegiate, united” Rugby Australia board became apparent on too many levels.

Marinos did not respond to requests for comment by The Weekend Australian.

There were many signs of dysfunction in the front office but none more so than the failed Kerevi deal.

Last summer the highly-valued Wallaby met with Rugby Australia officials at their Moore Park headquarters and said he wanted to come home from Japan and play Super Rugby.

Kerevi, a genial character, was more than happy to take a sizeable pay cut to do so.

“He really wanted to come home,” a source close to Kerevi said.

Melbourne Rebels chair Paul Docherty and general manager Nick Stiles, a confidante of Kerevi’s, led the charge to bring him into the Melbourne fold.

For Rugby Australia officials a Kerevi signing would be a coup – he was seen as a means to drive interest in Super Rugby – a star who would bring fans through the gates and eyeballs on TV.

At the RA offiices in January it was McLennan who first met with Kerevi and said the Super Rugby competition needed a star like him, he’d help make the deal happen.

The Weekend Australian has learnt a joint RA and Rebels deal worth around $1.2m a season was floated to Kerevi and his manager Anthony Picone.

It is understood Kerevi was more than happy with that figure.

Beyond the field Kerevi wanted to help give back to the community and lead the Pasifika program in Melbourne. The Rebels saw him being crucial in this role and as well as a “foundational” player heading towards the 2027 World Cup.

However three separate sources have confirmed to The Weekend Australian when the negotiating reins for the deal were handed over to Marinos, the money dropped markedly.

These sources confirmed the RA chief executive tabled a one-year deal (with a potential one year option) at around $900,000 – $1 million.

“Samu was lowballed,” said an insider. “They tried to get him on the cheap.”

This had happened to Kerevi before and he was floored that this smaller offer had been tabled despite assurances that the figure would be $1.2m.

The deal subsequently fell over. Docherty confirmed the Rebels missed out on him.

“We were disappointed to miss out on Samu, we thought he’d be an anchor of the team,” Docherty said.

Kerevi is back in Japan plying his trade – he signed a two-year deal with division two club, Urayasu D-Rocks – and Super Rugby is without another Australian superstar.

When the news filtered through to the Rugby Australia powerbrokers they were floored by the loss of Kerevi. One said he was left “flabbergasted”.

Samu Kerevi. Picture: Getty Images

Picone declined to comment on the Kerevi deal falling over when contacted by The Weekend Australian but had something to say about McLennan.

“I’ve dealt with the big egos at RA, Hamish is the opposite, he’s too savvy to let ego get in the way of business,” Picone told The Weekend Australian.

“He has people talking about the game and is a breath of fresh air to be frank.”

“Hamish knows we are in the entertainment game and doing his best to finally throw off the shackles of the amateur era. You can’t compete without big name players and personalities.”

While McLennan has copped flack for generating publicity, it’s clear he knows how to close a deal and he doesn’t seem to have the hang ups about player agents that other Rugby Australia powerbrokers have had before him.

The chairman has often been left overseeing player deals and rescuing them. The Weekend Australian has learnt it was player agent Picone who directly called McLennan who was in Las Vegas on business and said; “you are going to lose Taniela Tupou from Super Rugby”.

Shortly after missing out on bringing Kerevi home, the RA chair dived in to triage that deal and kept the star known as the “Tongan Thor” in the country.

Tupou signed another two-year deal – leaving the Reds for the Rebels – rather than taking the big money overseas.

“I’d like to thank Rugby Australia and the Melbourne Rebels for the opportunity to continue my career here in Australia for the next two years,” Tupou said upon signing.

But before the Kerevi contract debacle, differences of opinion in RA had became apparent when Marinos wanted Eddie Jones to start as Wallabies coach in 2024 after the World Cup in France.

“He wasn’t interested in Eddie coaching at the 2023 World Cup, he wanted him for 2024,” said another source.

Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper during a Wallabies training camp at Sanctuary Cove. Picture: Getty Images.

Marinos still wanted Rennie – despite his 37 per cent win/loss ratio – to stay in charge in France. Marinos said he didn’t want to change coaches mid-cycle because it would be too disruptive.

RA insiders say another option floated by Marinos was that Jones would assume a part-time advisory role.

It seemed an extraordinary thought to some that the coach with the best win/loss ratio in the history of English rugby – would work in a minor role to Rennie who had 37 per cent win rate.

There was unity on the board that Australian rugby needed to be decisive, brave and not let arguably the world’s best coach pass them by. They stepped forward despite the reservations of the chief executive.

Marinos push for Jones to start after the World Cup in France left many board members even more perplexed, given they were sure Jones would coach Japan instead if they didn’t sign him.

While Rugby Australia has endured almost ruinous financial results in recent times, one thing has stayed steady during it all – a united board.

A board described by those in the know as “collegiate” and agile in debating big ideas. One of those big ideas was NRL teen star Joseph Suaalii.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. Picture: Getty Images

It was winter last year when the simple question was asked in Rugby Australia’s office; “had anyone spoken to Joseph Suaalii?”

The Roosters young gun, a rugby kid at heart who had played in 2018 Australian Schoolboys side, who’d considered a Rugby Australia contract several years ago, was plying his trade as a young superstar of the game in league.

In the end it was McLennan – not Marinos – who hunted down Suaalii’s number and called the 19-year-old.

“Would you be interested in playing rugby for us?” McLennan is understood to have asked. The answer is now clear with Suaalii signed up to the Wallabies and Waratahs until the 2027 World Cup on home soil.

In the days since Marinos departure, the outgoing RA CEO made no secret to those close to him that he opposed the blockbuster Suaalii deal.

A RA powerbroker told The Weekend Australian he was the only one to vote against it last March.

“It was a vote that further distanced himself from the board,” said one board member, who declined to be named.

Marinos refused to see the value of the young star. The signing has generated headlines for rugby union and elicited immense interest in the Wallabies again — it sparked a “code war”.

However, it is seen as a breaking point between Marinos and a number of RA powerbrokers. Marinos’ reluctance to back it in, a determination to play it safe on many fronts that irked some.

“You can see that RA has tried to move at speed on a number of things,” observed one former Wallaby.

“And there’s obviously been a disconnect there.”

Former Wallaby and RA board member Phil Waugh is the internal frontrunner as the new chief executive. It is believed there are a few contenders outside the organisation also being considered for the role.

The sense is Rugby Australia will want a bold leader to keep on this journey of punching its way back into being a player on the Australian sporting landscape.