New Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan’s plan to overhaul the code

Incoming Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan, named as a new director today, will push for a State of Origin concept and a Big Bash-style Super Rugby series.

Incoming Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. Picture: John Feder

Incoming Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan signalled a more enterprising style from the sport’s governing body on being named as the new director on Friday, announcing he would be pushing for a State of Origin concept for the game and a Big Bash-style Super Rugby series.

McLennan the chairman of REA Group, a multi-billion dollar global digital advertising real estate company, will join the RA board on June 15, two days after his 54th birthday, and – barring any hiccups – should be voted in as chairman by his fellow directors. Until then, former Wallabies captain Paul McLean will remain as interim chair.

It has been a frightful couple of years for Australian rugby and McLennan, a lifelong fan since he played rugby in high school at Shore College, has suffered along with other lovers of the sport. “It has been quite distressing,” McLennan told The Australian on Thursday. “So when I was asked to join the board, I decided to jump in and help.”

Certainly he intends to tighten up the organisation which he agreed was tearing itself apart with infighting. “We need to solve all these issues behind closed doors and the pathological leaking only hurts the game.”

It wasn’t quite a Churchillian “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech but the former senior News Corp executive spoke boldly that if Australian rugby could survive the present onslaught, there would be brighter days ahead. “The next few years will be lean but there are a lot of good things we are working towards including the British and Irish Lions tour (of 2025) and the World Cup bid for 2027. And if we get the World Cup, Australia won’t have a solvency issue.”

The lean years have already started and McLennan could hold out no false hope that there would not be cutbacks in Rugby Australia’s staff of around 147. “It’s inevitable there will be job losses and we are in very testing times with the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

He could not say for certain that Australia’s four Super Rugby sides would survive, insisting that he had not even started with Rugby Australia at present.

He did, however, identify some areas of almost instant growth. “I think we should be running a State of Origin series for rugby,” McLennan said. “I flagged this when I was at Channel 10 but we should be running the State of Origin series the night after the rugby league game and we would be creating a new set of (television) rights that would be bringing new money into the coffers of Rugby Australia.”

Similarly, he believed that the “exciting discussions” taking place around law changes – with the four Super Rugby coaches and the group headed by former Wallaby Barry Honan independently doing groundbreaking research on how the game could be improved – could lead to some spectacular innovations for Super Rugby.

Certainly if he can reinvigorate Super Rugby the way he and former Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland did in re-imaging how the Big Bash could be played, it offers the game a fighting chance to re-establish itself as a television product.

While his background in News Corp, part-owner in Fox Sports, may take him further in his dealings with broadcasters, he was not offering any guarantees that he would succeed where former Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle faced major difficulties after rejecting the initial Fox offer.

McLennan joined the Rugby Australia board on Friday. Picture: John Feder

“I believe Fox have stated that they have moved on from rugby. Rob (Clarke, the interim CEO) will pick that one up. So let’s see.”

The future of professional rugby may well be hanging on the outcome of the negotiations and he did not disagree with NSW Rugby Union chairman Roger Davis’ assessment that the four Super Rugby franchises might have to close if there was no deal done. “Yeah, I think so but we’ll see, we’ll see.”

Ever the optimist, however, he does not envisage that calamity striking and believes that with Dave Rennie as the national coach, the Wallabies can lead from the top while, simultaneously, the game rebuilds from the grassroots up. He contacted the Wallabies boss early this morning and believes he is the right man for the job.

“Dave Rennie is rock solid, incredibly decent and I think he is a brilliant choice. I think he will be really good for our team and I am here to support him.”