Blindsided by Michael Lynagh

Author:Michael Lynagh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

WITH ME OUT OF the picture, a few other senior players in Australia took over at the forefront of the negotiations with the WRC. Phil Kearns was one and I think Rod McCall was another. He’s now Chairman of the Queensland Rugby Union. Rumour has it that there was pressure exerted on the younger Wallabies to sign. It’s said they were brought into the WRC office individually and told, ‘You’ve got to sign. We’ve got to be united, we’re all in this together.’ In the end, thanks to the money waved around and the coercion, there were just three players, I believe, who’d been part of the World Cup squad who refused to sign the letters of intent: me, Tim Gavin and Jason Little.

Jason always liked to present himself as this naive, grass-chewing country boy from Toowoomba. He is a very bright fellow, always was, but he’d perfected the persona of someone who didn’t quite know what was going on. He’s a lovely guy and is now doing very well in his chosen field.

Everyone was battling over him in 1995. He said no to rugby league, said no to the rugby circus and instead became the poster boy for the Australian Rugby Union. They gave him a huge amount of money to become their first professional rugby signing. It was a smart move on Jason’s part—he played each of the three parties off the other and got what he wanted. It was a no-lose situation for him, when you think about it. He was staying with the established body, getting paid and not jeopardising his international career.

As it turned out, the planned circus didn’t happen anyway. All the other guys signed letters of intent with the WRC, but then it fell apart because in August 1995 rugby was declared an open (and professional) sport by the IRB. That put an end to the need for a breakaway. That’s the short story.

At the same time—and I knew this was going on too—SANZAR (formed by the New Zealand, South African and Australian unions) signed a deal, under the name SANZAR initially; it would later become the Super 12 and then the Super 14 competitions. It was a US$550 million deal for ten years’ worth of exclusive broadcasting rights. It was to start in 1996. It sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it? But at the time, I was thinking, ‘Hmmm, I’m not sure how far that money will actually stretch.’

I remember sitting with Leo Williams, who was Chairman of the Australian Rugby Union. He has now, sadly, passed away. He was saying, ‘I’ve negotiated the biggest deal in Australian sporting history’ and all that kind of thing.

I said, ‘Leo, let’s just look at the figures.’

It was US$550 million over ten years. That’s US$55 million each year. Then you divide that by three countries. Within each of those three countries there were four teams that had to be sustained. When you look at it like that, it’s not that much money. I’d say that News Corporation got an absolute bargain.

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