Marina Go deserves respect for steering Tigers in right direction

Departing Wests Tigers chair Marina Go’s frustration with the game and its treatment of women has long been an open secret.

Wests Tigers chair Marina Go is departing after four years. Picture: Brett Costello

Marina Go’s decision to stand down as Wests Tigers chair shocked some, but not all. Her frustration with the game and, in particular, its treatment of powerful and outspoken women, has been an open secret for some time.

Go is no shrinking violet. In her four years at the helm of the Tigers, she has willingly and open­ly expressed her opinion on myriad issues. It is a valued opinion, too, given the relative dearth of women in the upper echelons of clubland. Not valued by all though. Often, her commentary has been sneered at by rival chairs and members of the media, their views no doubt skewed in part by Go’s gender.

Go isn’t rugby league royalty like Canterbury chair Lynne Anderson, whose father Peter Moore is the most revered figure in Bulldogs history.

She arrived at rugby league with a fresh set of eyes and ears. Those eyes and ears gave her a different view than most. She saw the game through a unique prism, one that was often maligned when it should have been cherished.

This is a time when rugby league should be doing all it can to encourage women to remain attached to the game. Police charges and lurid videos have brought the game’s treatment of women sharply into focus.

What then, does it say about the code when an intelligent and respected female businesswoman decides to walk away, in part because she feels she has been disrespected by some of the game’s most powerful figures?

Go initially handed in her resignation last December over the club’s treatment at the hands of the NRL following the salary cap investigation that resulted in chief executive Justin Pascoe being stood down for an indefinite time.

Her frustration had been building for some time at the perceived lack of respect. It has only grown in recent weeks as she felt further marginalised from above. When NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg called Go last Friday to belatedly inform her of the governing body’s decision on salary cap sanctions, Go didn’t bother answering the phone, such was her level of disenchantment with Rugby League Central.

Go had a close relationship with Greenberg’s predecessor Dave Smith, who made it part of his charter to increase the number of women in the game, either at board level or in his own administration.

It is arguable the game has regressed since. There are no female chief executives and Go’s departure means there is only one female chair — Anderson. Some clubs still have no female representatives on their board.

The commission itself has two highly respected and intelligent women in human rights lawyer Professor Megan Davis and Foxtel executive Amanda Laing.

Meanwhile, Go’s relationship with Greenberg had deteriorated to such an extent it was virtually non-existent. It particularly soured in recent months. When the NRL was deliberating on salary cap sanctions against the Tigers, Greenberg was meeting with two board members representing the joint venture’s owners — Balmain and Wests — rather than the chair. Go had wanted to take on the NRL. Other members of the board wanted to take a more conciliatory tone. The upshot was that Go was frozen out.

When the decision was made to give relief to the Tigers — they had a salary cap sanction spread over two years and Pascoe had his suspension reduced to six months — the NRL informed those two board members last Wednesday ahead of the public confirmation on Friday.

They were told to tell no one. Apparently, that also included the club’s chair. Would that have happened at any other club? Clearly not and apportioning blame is not simple. Go’s own board should have entrusted her with the outcome. At the same time, surely the NRL should have told the chair.

When Go discovered that Cronulla officials already knew their fate, she went looking for answers. She called ARL Commission chair Peter Beattie on Thursday and she was told her club had been informed of their appeal outcome.

Hence the phone call that finally arrived from Greenberg on Friday. Go felt disrespected so she let it ring out. Her position had become untenable, at least in her own eyes.

Go is sufficiently respected in the wider community to sit on a handful of boards, including Energy Australia, 7-Eleven and Autosports Group Ltd.

She has done an admirable job during her four years at the helm of the Tigers. The club was dysfunctional when she took over.

She helped navigate the Tigers through the acrimony at ownership level, the departure of Robbie Farah, and the exit of two coaches — Jason Taylor and Ivan Cleary. She led the club with passion and energy when they needed it.

She will depart in coming weeks with the club in the black, having turned a profit for the first time in their history. The club’s progress can be measured by the fact that when Cleary departed, Wayne Bennett and Michael Maguire were the two coaches in the mix to take over.

Maguire, a premiership winner at South Sydney, is now the man in the hot seat. Pascoe will return in June. The club is in safe hands.

Go, at the very least, deserves credit for that.