Raelene Castle gets full support of Rugby Australia board ... for now

Just how long Raelene Castle survives into 2020 is as uncertain as who would be wearing the Wallabies No 10 jersey.

How long Raelene Castle will survive as Rugby Australia CEO is unclear. Picture: AAP

“Full support of the board.”

Rugby Australia on Monday issued the dreaded statement no chief executive wants to read in support of Raelene Castle, after a lengthy board meeting.

While it was the final meeting for the year, just how long Castle survives into 2020 is as uncertain as who would be wearing the Wallabies No 10 jersey for each Test this year.

None of the board members raised concerns about Castle’s position in the meeting at RA headquarters. But not all of them are convinced she remains the right person for the job.

They will keep publicly backing Castle while talking quietly to those who are scheming in the background for executive positions. If the mood rapidly swings against Castle next year, they will choose self-preservation and vote her out.

Chairman Cameron Clyne, who has already announced he’ll depart next March, has been forced to repeatedly support Castle under mounting criticism.

Castle has two marks against her name already. She chose to keep Wallabies coach Michael Cheika on late last year when the mood of the public, and some Wallabies players, was to dump him after the worst season in the professional era.

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Instead, Cheika stayed on, assistant Stephen Larkham was thrown under the bus and relieved of his position — but given a different coaching role within Australian rugby — and director of rugby Scott Johnson was brought in, with Michael O’Connor as a third selector.

So after the most disastrous season in Australian rugby history, nobody was sacked, yet three jobs were created.

The argument they couldn’t afford to pay out Cheika’s salary didn’t wash. And they could have appointed any number of candidates as head coach including Johnson or Dave Rennie — who they did speak to last year about coaching at this year’s World Cup.

In those fractious times, Castle failed to properly ensure all the social media clauses in Israel Folau’s contract were airtight. Had that been handled correctly, Folau simply could not have sued them this year after his contract was terminated.

Instead, RA realised their error after Folau had already signed his four-year, $5 million deal, and then sent him additional social media clauses to sign, which he refused to do.

Castle’s actions after Folau’s controversial social media post regarding homosexuals, however, are to be commended.

In impossible circumstances, she fought for the values of the game and those it employs. But RA’s $3m settlement and apology to Folau last week only reignited the heat on Castle.

Now attention turns to her negotiations with Fox Sports and rivals Optus regarding the broadcast rights. Castle has angered many at Fox after she rebuffed their offer, around $100m less than she’d asked, and began talks with Optus.

However the talks turn out, Castle needs Fox to come back with a much bigger offer, or for Optus to put down a remarkably lucrative deal that would secure the game’s future in the face of serious concern most fans won’t buy Optus subscriptions.

“Raelene’s position is not in question and the board is united behind the process undertaken with Israel Folau,” Clyne said.

“2020 is an important year with the broadcast rights negotiations under way and we remain in dialogue with our long-term partner Fox Sports as we aim to deliver the strongest levels of coverage for all of our competitions over the next five-year cycle.”

Sports bosses are well aware of the connotations of the board’s full support.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH