Outspoken Rugby Australia boss admits the sport had become ‘too passive and lawful’… as he compares $5 million code swapper Joseph Suaali to Tom Brady
- McLennan says rugby had to take a stand and fight
- Rugby boss says sport was run for years
- McLennan compared Joseph Suaali to Tom Brady
Hamish McLennan, chairman of Bullish Rugby Australia, believes the sport in Australia had become too ‘passive and entitled’ and needed to take a stand and fight.
McLennan, who has gotten under the skin of many rugby league identities through his aggressive tactics and constant criticism of the NRL, is hailed by many as rugby’s return to its golden years.
The outspoken McLennan, who clearly takes great pleasure in irritating his rival code and is unafraid to make headlines, snagged former schoolboy rugby prodigy Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from the Roosters for an eye-watering $1.6 million-per-year three-year contract. season from the end of 2024.
Hamish McLennan thinks the sport had become too ‘passive and entitled’ in Australia
McLennan compared former schoolboy rugby prodigy Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to Tom Brady and said he will take fans back to code
While some see the signing as a waste of money that could have been better spent elsewhere, McLennan sees it as a worthwhile investment.
“He will sell out stadiums,” McLennan told the Herald.
‘He’s like the Tom Brady of rugby. I recognize the number of headlines seems like a lot but he is a once in a generation player and I think he will bring more fans back to rugby.
“He’s absolutely worth it.”
McLennan also moved quickly to pick up Eddie Jones for the Wallabies job after the coach was sacked by England earlier in the year.
“We couldn’t believe the RFU let him go without a non-compete clause in his contract,” says McLennan. “I was always obsessed with getting Eddie back as our cultural and rugby DNA had been destroyed in recent years.
“As they say, a fish rots from the top, and so unless we had someone of his caliber and understanding of our game, it was going to be very difficult for us to move the needle.”
McLennan lured Eddie Jones back to the Wallabies job after the coach was sacked by England earlier this year
The Wallabies (pictured) are currently preparing for the opening test against the Springboks
McLennan has flipped the contentious code in recent years, which he says has been on the brink of budgetary desperation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘When I started playing rugby a lot of people said, ‘Why are you – or why is the board – so hands-on?’ But it was like watching your child run to a plate-glass window and have to jump in and intervene,” he says.
“I think we were a week away from demise – we were openly exploring insolvency scenarios and changing the game from professional to amateur, which is just extraordinary.
“We had no agency contract for the following year, we had lost Qantas as a front-of-jersey sponsor and the debt was piling up left, right and center.”
McLennan says Australia’s ailing game needed a bold agenda – and he was the one to execute it.
“Rugby had become too passive and lawful and had taken the game for granted in my opinion,” he said.
“We had been run over for years and we had to stand up and fight for what is ours. We really believe in what rugby has to offer – boys and girls, men and women.
“It’s a wonderful global game, and yet nobody really advocated for it.”
The Wallabies are currently preparing for the opening test against the Springboks in Pretoria on July 9.