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Fans suspect there's an ulterior motive behind the Wallabies captains' letter to Rugby Australia
By Michael Pulman
Many on social media are not convinced of the intentions behind an explosive letter of no confidence in Rugby Australia (RA) management penned by former Wallabies greats.
Crisis talks are now set to begin between RA and the disgruntled former captains and players after the extraordinary letter was delivered on Tuesday.
Some of the names the co-penned the letter include former world cup winning Wallabies skipper Nick Farr-Jones as well as Wallabies greats George Gregan, Stirling Mortlock, George Smith and Nathan Sharpe.
Calling for a new vision, leadership and a plan for the future, the explosive letter has been met with some criticism on social media.
The timing and merit behind the letter aimed at overthrowing Raelene Castle and her administrators while others have penned comedic open letters in sarcastic support themselves.
Green and Gold Rugby pundit Hugh Cavill, whilst in support of change at all levels, pointed out some of the mediocre results from past board experience of some names that helped penned the letter such as Gregan and Sharpe.
One consistent reaction to the current troubles facing Rugby Australia and the reporting on the issue has been that a bigger agenda is at play. Some say there's a clear and obvious push from Foxtel to support commentator Phil Kearns into the top job and such statements were repeated this week.
One pundit also highlighted that several big names hadn’t signed the letter, including multiple World Cup winner and former captain John Eales as well as recent superstars like Will Genia and David Pocock.
The speculation, reaction and commentary will no doubt continue in the backdrop of COVID-19 which has sidelined all rugby around the world.
This week Rugby Australia talked about their hope of some trans-tasman clashes against the All Blacks once lockdown restrictions are lifted and are seeking to restart negotiations with potential broadcasters as soon as possible.
The general mood from the Twitterverse suggests that while fans of the game aren't necessarily happy with how things are running at the moment, there's a lot more to the letter than simply former players wanting to improve the game in Australia:
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Latest Comments
I think you're misunderstanding the fundamentals of how negotiations work, thinking the buyer has all the power. To look at just one rule of negotiation, the party with options has an advantage. I.e. if you are an international 10 with a huge personal brand, you have no shortage of high-paying job opportunities. Counter that to NZR who are not exactly flush with 10s, BB has a lot of leverage in this negotiation. That is just one example; there are other negotiation rules giving BB power, but I won't list them all. Negotiation is a two-way street, and NZR certainly don't hold all the cards.
Go to commentssorry woke up a bit hungover and read "to be fair" and entered autopilot from there, apologies
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