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Rugby Australia’s The president complained Friday that the “dark forces” of online criticism had made life miserable for the organization’s first female CEO, who resigned after a period of intense pressure.
Paul McLean expressed his “personal disappointment” along the way Raelene Castle She had been dealt with before resigning Thursday, after she lost the board’s trust.
McLean, a former flyhalf who won dozens of hats for the Wallabies, paid tribute to the pioneer Kiwi, saying a minor person would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.
Castle, he said, had been attacked in a “vicious and vicious way”, particularly on social media, by “silent forces, dark forces.”
“She shared some of that with me, which was, you know, I found quite abhorrent.”
Castle was the first woman to lead any of Australia’s top sports.
His departure ends with a turbulent reign marked by a series of crises and mounting financial problems.
The closure of the coronavirus accumulated more pressure on the government body with liquidity problems.
McLean said he will take the role of chief executive “for a very short period” as the search for Castle’s replacement begins.
The former Wallaby captain also rejected a letter from several of his former employers, calling for a change at the top of the organization.
“Let’s be clear here, it’s a very small collective of people who have been involved in the game in recent times,” said McLean. “The importance of that group is probably the people who are not on the list.”
Two-time World Cup winner John Eales was among a separate group of former captains who criticized the letter, while Michael Lynagh asked to be removed as a signer.
McLean said that by December this year, two-thirds of Rugby Australia’s top positions will have changed in one year.
Rugby Australia laid off most of its staff and cut players’ salaries by 60 percent as it deals with the coronavirus crisis, which seems to torpedo much of this year’s Wallabies calendar.
