Hamish McLennan: Andrew and Nicola Forrest in joint action to keep Rugby Australia chair

In an exclusive statement, billionaire Andrew Forrest joined with Nicola Forrest to throw support behind under-siege Hamish McLennan, who faces demands from five rugby states to resign.

Under pressure Rugby Australia chief Hamish McLennan. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and Nicola Forrest have issued a joint statement throwing their support behind under-siege Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan and his board.

In an exclusive statement released to The Weekend Australian the Forrests, have joined several other high-profile supporters – including Olympic boss John Coates – who are backing McLennan despite five rugby states calling him “arrogant” and demanding he resign now.

Following the Wallabies disastrous World Cup campaign, which ended with the resignation of Eddie Jones, a letter signed by the leaders of Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT, was delivered to McLennan on Friday which stated both his and the Rugby Australia board had been “lacking”.

Andrew ‘Twiggy' Forrest and Nicola Forrest have joined supporters of Hamish McLennan.

On Saturday the Forrests – long-time supporters of Australian rugby while Forrest’s company Tattarang funds the Super Rugby team Western Force – said they still have faith in McLennan and the board in their efforts to “centralise” and overhaul the game’s governance.

“Hamish is steering rugby through a very difficult period from the complete mess that he inherited,” the statement from Andrew and Nicola Forrest read.

“Yes, we would have all preferred a win at the World Cup, but this is not going to happen unless we rebuild national rugby from the grassroots up.

“As the community grassroots investment starts to feed through, we look forward to much better results in the years ahead.

“Now is not the time for more disruption in the sport, but a time for rugby to band together and back the proposed centralisation reforms.

“We support the efforts Hamish and the existing board are making to centralise high performance and improve governance to ensure Australian rugby administration is focused on what’s best for the game, its players and fans.”

The Forrests, who recently separated after 31 years of marriage, on Saturday were joined by Victoria via chairman Paul Docherty and Coates who continue to support McLennan despite a torrent of criticism directed at him.

“I am a great supporter of Hamish, I’ve known Hamish for a long time, we’ve had a corporate relationship and he reached out to myself, Peter Cosgrove and John Howard to get involved in the World Rugby bid, rather than using his existing board,” Coates said.

“I don’t know if that is part of the problem the States have with him, but we were successful in securing 2027 and 2029 World Cups and I know how highly he is regarded by World Rugby people.

“This was further evidenced recently in Paris, with the work he did in changing the dates and securing the schedule for the rugby World Cup in 2027. I am a supporter of the centralised model, which Hamish is pushing, which has worked successfully in many Olympic sports.”

Queensland have openly opposed RA’s plans to centralise and refuse to agree to the “strategic reset” which has been tabled. NSW is the only state to have agreed so far.

Docherty says the code is due for an overhaul and is lagging behind rivals like the AFL and NRL who have long reformed.

“Here in Melbourne, we recognise the fact that sports are more successful through unification of their operating models, which we’ve seen NSW take the lead on in the rugby landscape,” Docherty said. “Every other major sporting code in this country has reformed their structures, some decades ago, and they are thriving in a competitive sporting landscape.

“From Melbourne’s perspective, a united game provides a stable platform for much needed investment, that ensures growth in our grassroots, right through to successful Super Rugby Clubs, and the Wallabies.”

“By his own admission, Hamish has said there have been some speed bumps for rugby in Australia, but more importantly, some major achievements like our RWC 27/29 hosting rights, that will transform the game of rugby over the next decade. We can’t land years of problems at the feet of one person. We are all custodians of the game for a short time, and our goal should be to come together, not to create more division.”

Queensland chairman Brett Clark has led the charge to oust McLennan.

Brett Clark.

It’s understood Queensland power brokers have told key RA board members they will unleash a “negative” media campaign to keep the heat on McLennan to resign.

Other key states like New South Wales and Victoria are backing McLennan as is billionaire Western Force owners Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and Nicola Forrest.

RUPA CEO Justin Harrison is also supporting McLennan’s leadership.

The Wallabies recently suffered their worst performance at a World Cup and coach Eddie Jones resigned, citing one of the reasons for his departure, as the game’s unwillingness and lack of haste to “centralising” its high performance system.

Mr McLennan, who received a call from Queensland rugby boss Brett Clark, informing him of the move against him says the letter shows absolute disregard for the future of the game.

Rugby is the only major code which is run solely by a federated model - the AFL and NRL use a commission style leadership which McLennan is pushing for.

“This is about self interest, money and a few faceless men putting their own interests first,” McLennan told The Weekend Australian when asked about the letter.

“This is about self interest, money and a few faceless people putting their own agendas first”.

“This is the battle rugby needs to have”

“Centralisation is the answer, don’t let anyone gild the lily. This is a divisive act”.

In the letter obtained by The Weekend Australian a number of States have opposed the move.

“It is the responsibility of the members of Rugby Australia (RA) to hold the Board of RA accountable. It is clear for some time now that the leadership provided by RA’s Board has been lacking,” the letter reads.

“The purpose of this letter is not to recite the litany of issues, but to advise that the undersigned have lost confidence in the Board to provide rugby in Australia with adequate leadership, direction, planning, and decision making.

The undersigned members have had a series of discussions to express their concern in relation to the current situation and to determine the appropriate course of action to seek to improve the situation.

“The members are concerned about your leadership as Chairman. Your recent threatening comments to stakeholders were, at the very least, arrogant, inappropriate, and contrary to the spirit of which we have engaged to date.

“The members have a duty and responsibility to hold the Board accountable. Both the Corporations Act and RA’s Constitution provide a mechanism for removal of directors to facilitate this.”

“The undersigned members are discharging their responsibility by requesting that you resign from your position as a director of RA. From there, we propose there is to be extensive communication with the members in relation to identifying your replacement and the filling of the current casual vacancy.”

If McLennan does not resign, the states can then move to call an extraordinary general meeting.