Blow up rugby’s ‘rotten’ governance, says Andrew Forrest

Andrew Forrest says rugby could become one of the most popular sports in the country — but first it must blow up its current constitution.

Andrew Forrest has called for an AFL style commission to run Australian rugby

Billionaire and Western Force owner Andrew Forrest has called for Rugby Australia to bring in an AFL-style commission to end a run of “rotten governance” that now sees the code $10m in debt.

Forrest is optimistic the game could rival the AFL, and become profitable again, but only if it goes through a major constitutional overhaul that would do away with the current Rugby Australia board model.

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, the Fortescue chairman slammed years of “shocking governance” and “poor judgment”. Rugby Australia has endured years of tumult including the controversial ousting of the Western Force, blowing $500m over the last four years and all the while neglecting the game’s dying grassroots.

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Forrest said the current governance model sees a chairman have too much say in the make-up of the board, which previously failed to connect with those who are the heart and soul of the game.

“We started to lose touch with our shareholders, our boys and girls and mums and dads. They‘re the real owners of the game, when we started to lose touch with them and just consider ourselves as the rugby leaders, as the rugby board, the rugby administration,” Forrest said.

“When you started to do rotten corporate governance like structure things so board appointments could only really be made by the chairman — so at the end of the day it was one person’s rule — that is just shocking governance.”

“I saw what was happening there and I saw the poor judgment. And you could put it down easily to that they’d lost touch for the shareholders, they’d lost touch with the mums and dads that were no longer there for the good of the game or the more importantly, the good of the players and the good of the supporters, particularly the parents.”

“They were there for themselves or they were there for the preservation of the board. Whatever argument they put up, they were no longer there for the boys and girls and mums and dads.”

Forrest believes the eastern states of Queensland and NSW have too much influence on major rugby decisions and too often “go to war” about issues off the field. In turn the off-field drama distracts from the game’s true issues; and they are not adequately addressed or are neglected entirely.

“(It is currently) a competition which is weighed down by secular interest, by one state fighting with another state, but a constitution which actively provides a mechanism for building the sport across Australia from the ground up,” Forrest said. “You will see Australia return to one of the greatest rugby nations in the world, and you’ll see the fans, the mums and dads flock to it. But we’ve got to get that grassroots right.”

“We need another constitution. Our current constitution has allowed a chairman to unilaterally select directors.

“That would be OK if he or she owned the game. But they don’t. They should only act for the public.”

The Wallabies have sunk to No 7 in the world, their worst ever ranking. There’s a major concern about how the code will engage the next generation of footballers as the AFL, soccer and the NRL maintain a grip on the junior markets. Still, Forrest, Australia’s most successful businessmen, believes the game can be profitable and popular again.

“This game could be as popular as the AFL,” Forrest said. “It needs to change. It needs to have visionary leaders. It needs to have a new constitution and it needs to build it from the grassroots.”

“We will never create one of the most popular sports in Australia just by backing the most senior talent and by taxing the grassroots. We’ve got to build it as Aussie Rules is done, as soccer’s done from the grassroots up. And we have the vision to be patient and have the character strength to have the vision.

Forrest made it clear he is supportive of the current RA chairman and CEO. Current chair Hamish McLennan floated the idea of changing the constitution last year in an interview with The Australian.

“I’m delighted with the new direction and work being done by the new chairman Hamish McLennan and recently appointed CEO Andy Marinos,” he said. “I support the new direction and note Hamish doesn’t take a cent from the organisation and has really put his back into the gigantic task ahead.”

But he says now is the time to make change.

“We need a national constitution equal to, if not better, as the best in the world. I don’t say world class. I say something which is world leading,” he said.

“That’s what our game deserves. That’s what Australia deserves. And that’s the opportunity. With a new chairman, a new chief executive, when the sport is on its knees, when the administration is broke, you can logically say to vested interests, well, we have no choice. We need to act for the good of the game now, not for vested interests, not for a single state.

“(A constitution) which really encourages the kids from everywhere to get involved in the game, encourages administrators at the local level and at the state level and at the senior level to always think on behalf of the mums and dads and the boys and girls. And if we stay focused, then great players who are loyal to our country will emerge.

“And I feel that we’ve lost so many great players overseas because they just look at the codswallop of the last several years and just thought, ‘well, I’m going to play overseas. At least I will be appreciated overseas’. We have to bring them back and grow our own game.”

The last time the RA constitution was overhauled was in 2012, when members voted to adopt a new governance model following recommendations from the Strengthening the Governance of Australian Rugby report, conduced by the former federal sports minister Mark Arbib (the Arbib Review).

To change the corporate governance structure a vote would have to be taken and 75 per cent of rugby stakeholders would have to agree with making a change. Queensland and NSW have the most voting rights of all involved.