From Rugbyheaven
As context, it was Dick Marks that Leo Williams had JO'N sack as one of his first CEO duties back in the late 90's. Marks has never got over it and obviously sees now as a good time to get some vengeance.
Interesting they've drafted a Mungo writer to drop this turd.
It's too much for a game to bear
Josh Rakic | October 25, 2009
AMID a sports administrator's nightmare scenario of plummeting television ratings, poor attendance figures, a demise in public interest and a struggling national team, the Australian Rugby Union is also believed to be battling to retain its $6 million-a-year sponsorship with Bundaberg Rum.
Over the past two seasons the Robbie Deans-coached Wallabies have recorded a disappointing 56.5 per cent win ratio, and it is having an impact on the corporate world's ability to support sports teams. The Sun-Herald understands Ford and Vodafone - neither of which returned calls - have already declared their intent to cease their sponsorships of the Wallabies.
While Bundaberg Rum marketing manager Andrew Hewson was reluctant to speak with The Sun-Herald, he sent a press statement issued by his media department. This refused to confirm the brand's commitment to the ARU beyond 2010, following the conclusion of its current five-year deal.
''It is too early to comment on a sponsorship agreement beyond this time but as a matter of practice we continually review the impact, value and performance of all of our sponsorships,'' the statement read.
The financial impact of the global recession withstanding, a Sun-Herald investigation would suggest the ARU faces a tough task of convincing Bundaberg to remain in the ''family''.
In 2008, the Super 14 held just one spot in the top 100 viewed pay TV shows, while only four Tests made the cut. The good news is that one of the Wallabies' Tests in 2008 was the highest-rating show on pay TV.
The bad news is this year's highest-rating Bledisloe Cup match, on free-to-air, attracted 521,000 viewers while May's rugby league Anzac Test drew 917,000.
The highest-rating 2008 Bledisloe Cup Test achieved 727,000 on Channel Seven, a massive 206,000 more than 2009. Both were out-ranked considerably by the ARL Kangaroos Tests.
The news does not get any better, with NRL match attendances climbing an average of 300 people since 2007, while Super rugby has lost an average of 1300 per game.
Statistics show the average NRL TV audience of 532,000 a game outshone the highest-rating free-to-air Bledisloe Cup match by 11,000 viewers.
Former Queensland Reds CEO Peter Lewis blames the demise on ''unattractive'' rugby and warns that unless the administration implements improvements soon, rugby could fall further by the wayside.
''The current style of football is just downright boring,'' Lewis said. ''Rugby needs to be more adventurous with its rules because we've got some fantastic athletes in back lines all over the country and world, but how often do you see them running?
''And if the product's no good, you can do all the advertising and promotion you like and it won't mean a thing. And the product isn't very appealing at the moment.
''Free-to-air television doesn't want us, so the first thing we need to do is improve the quality of the offering and then we need to build the profile again.
''We made the final of the World Cup in 2003 and the popularity just seems to have drifted ever since.''
Former Wallaby Dick Marks, who has been connected with the top end of the game for 50 years in playing, coaching, administrating, selecting and broadcasting, and who was involved in drafting the IRB's ''Charter of the Game'', said the administration was as much to blame for the waning interest as the product itself.
He said the cancellation of the Australian Rugby Championship after one season was a disgrace.
''CEO John O'Neill went to soccer and had a national competition going in a little over a year but he's had one on the rugby books for many years but still can't or won't deliver one,'' Marks said.
''The annoying impression of this administration is that unless it thinks of an idea or it appoints reviewers of its own choice, then its first inclination is to cancel them. Good examples of this were the cancellation of the much-needed third-tier competition as endorsed by a recent meeting of the Super 14 coaches.''
Marks said the public and rugby community's confidence in the ARU had deteriorated significantly in recent years, particularly in the past few years.
''It has let its 'national coaching plan' deteriorate to a point where it has to go offshore to find a coach for its national team and it relentlessly drove the law changes that have produced a game that has induced falling crowds,'' Marks said.
''It has become so sensitive to criticism that twice this year the chairman of the board [Peter McGrath] has rushed to print with arguments against newspapers and/or journalists. It publicly lectures writers about the wrongs of 'playing the man instead of the ball' and then authorises its CEO to publish a book in which he sinks the boot into a host of current or former officials.
''It has attracted a lot of criticism for its attention to spin. And under its code of conduct Eddie Jones gets fined $10,000 for saying a harsh word about a referee but the CEO can have a go at current NSW directors, former ARU chairmen and presidents with no immunity for anyone - double standards?
''In all, it has got its own position right out of whack. It has a habit of adopting the practice of 'Do as I say, not as I do'.''
Coach Robbie Deans's reported hauling over the coals by the ARU last week for criticising the lack of a strong domestic competition in Australia would offer weight to Marks's comments.
O'Neill has also publicly fallen out with the Rugby Union Players' Association and several high-profile players in recent times, including Stirling Mortlock, Phil Waugh and Matt Giteau since Lote Tuqiri's mystery sacking three months ago.
It has been reported that Giteau has said privately he cannot wait until the 2011 World Cup is over so he can break free of the ARU.
Former Wallabies coach John Connolly, who was replaced by Deans despite his 64 per cent winning percentage, former CEO Gary Flowers and at least three print journalists have been issued with letters warning of legal action from O'Neill.
The ARU administration has also had much-publicised fallouts with the Players' Association, the Reds, NSW Rugby and Victoria Rugby Union this season.
While even his critics agree O'Neill and his team have a more difficult task than their international counterparts - saying that Australian sports fans are far more fickle than those of their rivals - they also suggested the administration was not doing the game any favours by ostracising fan favourites such as Waugh, Al Baxter, Tuqiri and Mortlock.
Meanwhile, Lewis said players were as much to blame as the administration for the current state of the game, which even O'Neill conceded last week was not ''travelling all that well'' .
''If there is unrest or what have you, then get over it,'' Lewis said.
''If you want to be paid like a professional, be one. They need to concentrate and focus, get behind their leadership and just do it.
''I don't begrudge people making good money but on a per-game basis a lot of our blokes are ridiculously overpaid compared to all three of the other codes.
''It's just all out of whack compared to the success of the sport. As John O'Neill was quoted as saying, 'Australian rugby has a lack of heroes, but they're certainly being paid like superstars'.''
As context, it was Dick Marks that Leo Williams had JO'N sack as one of his first CEO duties back in the late 90's. Marks has never got over it and obviously sees now as a good time to get some vengeance.
Interesting they've drafted a Mungo writer to drop this turd.
