Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan says there “a handful of players we’d like to pull back” from rugby league
Rugby Australia CEO Andy Marinos admits the sport was recently ‘on the cusp of catastrophe’. The organisation has now returned to surplus for the first time in four years, reports BRENDAN BRADFORD.
“Peter who?”
Hamish McLennan’s response to a question about Peter V’landys on Wednesday indicated the battle between the codes will not be subject to a ceasefire any time soon.
McLennan and V’Landys have been engaged in an animated back-and-forth since the Rugby Australia boss lured NRL star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to the 15-a-side code a month ago.
That continued when McLennan was asked a question about V’Landys in the context of rugby’s public attempt to recruit Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas.
“Peter who?” he quipped.
McLennan continued: “There are a lot of league players who have reached out to us, because they like the idea of playing league – and we’re the first to say rugby league is a great game – but they want something different with rugby union.
“Quite a few have reached out to say they want to come back. They love playing the game, they want the international exposure, and they want to wear Wallaby gold.”
McLennan has been bullish in his approach to signing rugby league players – and his willingness to engage V’Landys in the media after the NRL boss suggested last week “they should change the name of rugby union to rugby boomerang, because they always come back.”
“We just see that we have lost a lot of good union players to league over the years, and they’ve been poaching our talent pool,” McLennan responded.
“They squeal when we take one or two of them back. We’ve been very strategic, and it’s a free market. It’s good for the players.
“Everyone’s going a bit bananas about it, but there’s only a handful of players we’d like to pull back.”
While Suaalii will play Super Rugby for the Waratahs, with an eye on the British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia in 2025 and the Rugby World Cup on home soil two years later, McLennan hinted he could also play Sevens at the Olympics.
“He loves Sevens, it’s a highly differentiated offering,” McLennan said, adding: “He loves the idea of it. For a guy like that, I hope league aren’t punitive and that he gets to play Origin.
“He’ll be a Wallaby, he’ll play the Lions, he’ll play in a Rugby World Cup at home and he can go to the Olympics in 2028.
“That’s just a remarkable achievement for a young man.”
McLennan said Rugby Australia’s $8.2 million surplus, announced on Wednesday, is a significant achievement considering the dire state the code was in during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
“Two-and-a-half years ago, the whole game could’ve been amateur again,” he said.
“The very fact that these guys (RA CEO Andy Marinos and CFO Richard Gardham), have got it from a massive loss, raising money – which we had to get from offshore to stabilise the organisation – and then get sponsors and a new broadcast deal is quite remarkable.
“We feel very good about what we can do in the future. This is just the beginning.”
While a certain portion of any surplus money will undoubtedly be going towards attracting NRL players, McLennan and Marinos both stressed the need to invest in the grassroots game as well.
“There can be no doubt about how deep a hole rugby was in as a result of the pandemic – we were genuinely on the cusp of catastrophe,” Marinos said.
“To be able to turn things around and return a surplus in just two years is a tremendous testament to the team at RA.
“It has been a real grind – we have had to be incredibly disciplined financially, yet still delivering results across the business in participation, marketing and promoting a full season of rugby, growth in commercial revenue.”
Meanwhile, Wallabies legend Joe Roff has been confirmed as Rugby Australia’s new president.
The World Cup and Super Rugby winner replaces fellow former Wallaby David Codey, who served in the role for the last two years.
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