Raelene Castle quits as Rugby Australia chief executive

Raelene Castle’s troubled reign as Rugby Australia’s chief executive has come to an end after she telephoned RA chairman Paul McLean with her resignation.

Raelene Castle has resigned as Rugby Australia chief executive. Picture: Getty Images

Raelene Castle’s troubled three-year reign as Rugby Australia’s chief executive has come to an end after she telephoned RA chairman Paul McLean with her resignation on Thursday night.

Although she expressed her intention to fight as recently as Sunday — “You can’t let the bastards win,” she told The Australian — the unrelenting attacks wore her down and it may be that she has saved Rugby Australia from making the difficult decision to sack her.

“I made it clear to the board that I would take the flak and do everything possible to serve everyone’s best interests,” Castle explained in a statement.

“In the last couple of hours it was made clear to me that the board believe my no longer being CEO would help give them the clear air they believe they need.”

Reports earlier suggested the RA board was going to consider her position. Although McLean insists that no such conversation took place, just the possibility that her directors might have lost faith in her was enough to trigger her resignation.

After taking over from Bill Pulver as CEO in January 2017, Castle’s stint was turned upside down within four months when Israel Folau said God’s plan for homosexuals was that they would go to Hell unless they repented.

Under huge pressure from her sponsors — particularly Qantas — Castle carpeted Folau and eventually secured a commitment from him that he would never embarrass RA in that fashion again.

On the strength of his promises, which actually included hugging Castle and assuring her he would walk away from the sport if he did anything to embarrass it, she then signed Folau to a new four-year multi-million contract.

But she neglected to include social-media clauses in the contract. Folau returned to internet a year later to warn that homosexuals and other sinners were headed for damnation.

This time, she and RA decided to sack the Wallabies fullback, leaving the national team without their best player going into the World Cup in January.

Folau took out a $14m freedom-of-religion lawsuit against the code, which was settled out of court — at an estimated cost of $3.1m — before the start of this season.

Castle was in more strife when negotiations with traditional media partner Fox Sports broke down at the first barrier. When she then attempted to go to the market, she was brought undone by the coronavirus pandemic, which left rugby and every other sport at a standstill.

“I don’t think there has been a CEO who has been as scrutinised and criticised as Raelene,” McLean told The Australian on Thursday night.

“It is unprecedented in modern sport. She has been resilient beyond the norm and for those privileged to work with her, they would know, as I have, that the game and its people have always come first for her.

“It has been a pleasure working with her because, as everyone knows, she has been dealt some rough cards and had to deal with unprecedented circumstances in our game. The fear we always had was that it would become too much for her — or for anyone, for that matter.”

McLean admitted the media attacks on her always seemed unfair to those who were aware of her abilities. “But she was always an easy target. Some in the media took the time to know her. Others just jumped on the bandwagon.”

Castle position became critical on Wednesday when 11 Wallabies captain — later reduced to 10 after Michael Lynagh withdrew his name from the process — protested at the performance of RA under her reign and called for the complete overthrow of the board.

That seemed ludicrous, given that the board had changed its composition by 50 per cent and could well see a 75 per cent change if board members Hayden Rorke and John Wilson resign before the next annual general meeting, as they are reportedly considering doing.

It seemed curious that Castle attracted so much of the flak, considering she was only executing the board’s wishes. But then, as McLean observed, she was always an easy target — not just a woman in a man’s world but a Kiwi who had come from rugby league.

There had been suggestions that new Australian coach Dave Rennie might not take up his post in July if Castle was sacked, but in an interview on the 7.30, she refuted that, suggesting that while Rennie supported her and her style of management, he desperately wanted to coach the Wallabies.

It now remains to be seen who RA will choose as her replacement. One of the 10 signatories to the captains letter, Phil Kearns, was the runner-up to her at the last CEO job interview and he has made it well known he still wants the job.