Why Raelene Castle is coming back for more

The first question to ask Raelene Castle is why?

Why, having experienced the worst of sports administrative life – orchestrated public campaigns, politics, personal attacks, blatant sexism, cruel comments on social media – are you throwing yourself into another high-profile sports role?

The former Chief Executive Officer of Rugby Australia was appointed this week to the position of senior sports administration in the country, replacing Peter Miskimmin as head of Sport NZ.

Castle admits that there was a time when he didn’t think he would be here again, under the uncomfortable gaze of public life.

READ MORE:
* Peter Miskimmin steps down as CEO of Sport NZ after 12 years at the helm
* New Sport NZ CEO Raelene Castle wants the different codes to work together more
* Sport New Zealand will appoint the first female CEO
* Raelene Castle faced a gender agenda from “day one”; ex Wallaby Peter FitzSimons

After leaving Rugby Australia in April after a turbulent two-year reign, Castle had been planning a quiet retreat into the private sector.

“I was having some pretty meaningful in-depth conversations about getting back into some commercial roles, and I was very at peace with that,” Castle said. Things.

“I thought maybe I could be on a couple of sports tables and give back to the sport that way.

That’s what he was doing. I was getting on a plane to go back to New Zealand and do that. So peter [Miskimmin] announced his resignation … “

Industry rumor has it that Castle was one of two women shortlisted for the position alongside World Rugby’s Katie Sadleir, a former Sport NZ board member. Castle was said to have been the favorite choice of the minister of sports and recreation, Grant Robertson, who was eager to see a new approach to the top.

Castle takes over at a time of simmering tensions in the sector. Athlete representatives and sports integrity experts are increasingly frustrated by Sport NZ’s lack of decisive action in the face of mounting athlete wellness scandals, accusing the government agency of wasting millions on reviews and inquiries without that this results in a significant policy change.

There is also a perception among national sports organizations that Sport NZ and its subsidiary, High Performance Sport NZ, are quick to claim credit for a sport’s successes, but shirk responsibility when things go wrong.

But all of that is ahead of Castle. For now, keep worrying about where it comes from.

Much of the commentary surrounding Wednesday’s announcement focused on digging through the still-smoking rubble of Castle’s tenure in Rugby Australia. Although it’s cool, you get it.

“There is a level of fascination around why I ended up, how I ended up there, and I understand that,” he says.

“But I also have the firm conviction that I have moved on, and there are new people there who take care of things, and they deserve to have that space to do what they want to do and the last thing they need is a former sports manager to do their thing. opinions.

“I certainly had to deal with a lot of that when I was there, and that’s something I promised I would never do.”

By “a lot of it,” Castle means unsolicited opinions. Much of his two years and little at the helm of Rugby Australia were spent under siege from rugby’s old guard. If it wasn’t controversial announcer and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones criticizing her on his radio show, it was former high-profile players and his letter-writing tree.

To the rugby world, Castle, who was the first woman to lead one of Australia’s four great football codes, seemed to represent an evil triumvirate of forces.

Was it sexism? Yeah, I probably would have probably been treated differently if I was a man, “he says, adding with a wry smile,” and probably if I wasn’t a kiwi, and probably if I had gone to private school. ”

Talking with Things In the lobby of the Auckland city center hotel in which she is stationed for the next several weeks, Castle has a more laid-back figure than the grim-faced image she presented in her final months at Rugby Australia, during which the organization came out. of the crisis. to the crisis.

She resigned in April after it became apparent amid a spate of outside attacks that she had lost the trust of her board. In announcing his decision to resign, Castle said that to move forward, the organization needed “clean air.”

She still cares deeply about Australian rugby. Before the interview began, Castle was bent over her phone evaluating the changes to Dave Rennie’s Wallabies side for Saturday night’s fourth Bledisloe Cup game in Brisbane.

The last six months have also given Castle some breathing space, allowing him the space to reconfigure his experience in Australia from a turmoil to a period of “challenges” and what those in the sports business like to call ” learnings ”.

She considers her experiences in Tasmania, which included four years with the Bulldogs NRL club before making a code change to rugby, have undoubtedly prepared her for the pressures of the Sport NZ role.

“The amount of comment and focus from the media has certainly meant that nothing that happens here will surprise me,” he says.

“I think when you take on a role like this, if you’ve never dealt with media feedback and opinion, it would be quite challenging, but when you’ve dealt with it previously and know how to filter it, it becomes more manageable.”

“Particularly on the social media side – the streams and streams of abuse, negativity, and inappropriate comments, it’s easier to handle once you’ve dealt with it previously and understand the nature.”

It also helps, she says, to have a close network of trusted advisors to help her deal with the tough stuff. Networking has always been a Castle thing. Few would have a bad thing to say about the highly socially personable sports manager.

You wouldn’t want to publicly mention who is in your circle of trust, but it would be a pretty safe bet that most of them have letters after their names.

“That’s the benefit of not being 30, but 49” (or even 50 if she’s really honest with herself), she says.

“Because you make amazing connections and people who are experts in certain areas and topics, and that’s where you can call them and get great advice on certain topics.”

Castle is not the only one learning from her time at Rugby Australia. Organizing the Israel Folau saga, which began three months after Castle’s tenure, has become the subject of philosophical debate in both business and academia.

Now that the emotional public debate that unfolded in the wake of Folau’s firing over anti-gay social media posts has run its course and Castle is able to look back dispassionately, he accepts that the topic presents a fascinating case study from how the twin ideals of diversity and inclusion don’t always line up.

“It was not my goal to end up as a case study in every university in the world on how to deal with a problem related to religion and the use of social media and personal opinions versus organizational opinions,” says Castle.

“It certainly piqued a lot of interest. It’s a fine line to tread, because embracing people with deeply held religious views is a really important part of any inclusive environment. But it’s about how those people choose to express those views that is really important, and you have to do it in a considerate and respectful way. ”

While the Folau issue has come to define Castle’s tenure, it was ultimately the failure to secure a streaming deal before the financial realities of the Covid crisis arrived, and a complicated showdown with the players’ association over a new salary agreement which led to Castle’s Disappearance.

Politics in New Zealand sports must seem like child’s play compared to the brutal nature of the professional sports landscape in Australia.

“There is politics in sport, and there are degrees of it. I think the difference is that you have the natural politics of sport and then you superimpose the strong media coverage and the people who take perspectives in the media, that was very challenging, ”she says.

“I think that back here, there will be some politics, but politicking will be for the right reasons to get the right results for the benefit of sport, perhaps more than for personal interest.”

“At the end of the day we have to put our ego aside, because we all want the same thing, right? And that’s to ensure that more New Zealanders, particularly our tamariki and rangatahi, can enjoy quality engagement experiences. I know that’s all that matters to me. “

And that’s why Raelene Castle is back.