General Auckland Rugby League
- Thread starter WahsaurusRex
- Start date
. What a shambles.. We got lucky with Mohawk.
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Did Russell leap or was she pushed.Rebecca ‘The Duchess’ Russell quits Auckland Rugby League
The woman whose leadership exposed alleged conflicts of interest and fraud at Auckland Rugby League is leaving for a new role, saying her work is done.
- Chief executive Rebecca Russell has quit and is leaving Auckland Rugby League after two years and eight months in the job.
- Her leadership exposed multiple conflicts of interest, management issues and fraud at Auckland Rugby League.
- Former Auckland Rugby League chairman Cameron McGregor was stripped of his life membership in October over alleged management and governance failures. He denies wrongdoing.
Rebecca Russell came into Auckland Rugby League (ARL) as chief executive to then be dubbed “The Duchess” by league’s old guard once she started digging into 20 years of management and governance decisions.
The result was an explosive report from financial services giant PwC which alleged standard business and oversight processes had been sidelined for years.
It also revealed an alleged fraud by a long-serving staff member that had been going on under the eye of managers and board directors for at least a decade.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she told the Herald. “One thing I really reflect on for me and my team is the level of personal resilience. I have surprised myself with the level of resilience I’ve had. It’s been huge.”
Russell was the first female CEO at Auckland Rugby League.
“I think I’ve done everything with integrity. I’ve always wanted the best for the game,” she told the Herald.
Russell said she was leaving to run The Y North which operates 20 centres from the Bay of Plenty and Waikato up to Warkworth. “The Y” is a modern evolution of the YMCA which operates community programmes along with accommodation, camps, and fitness centres.
“It’s big and it’s meaningful. It’s an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up.
“With ARL, when I came into the role there were a couple of things I made clear … that transformation would take two years, and it’s taken a little longer. And I said I never wanted to be part of the furniture.”
She said she now leaves the organisation with modernised systems and robust governance through a new constitution voted in by Auckland clubs.
When Russell came to ARL she found a paper-based office that had “no processes, no procedures, no standards”. In her attempt to institute order, she developed concerns over decisions that had been made, so hired PwC to carry out a review.
The PwC report raised questions over $7.2 million of spending over the period it studied with some of league’s vaunted administrators caught in its inquiry into governance practices.
The PwC report alleged conflicts of interest along with poor decision-making with ARL’s new management describing the inquiry as painting a picture of an organisation with a 20-year history of slipshod management and governance.
It also alleged a long-serving staff member had taken $183,798 through credit card and invoice fraud and spent much of the money at SkyCity casino.
Three directors of ARL were suspended with long-time administrator Cameron McGregor the highest-profile among those singled out by name in the PwC report.
McGregor, an accountant, was stripped of life membership along with former ARL employee Pat Carthy with ARL citing alleged management and governance failures during their time on the board.
In an interview with the Herald, McGregor denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I know what I have done is right and my values that I adhere to have never wavered and the truth will come out.”
He also backed the national sports body, New Zealand Rugby League, when it organised meetings with Auckland clubs without their own governing body ARL involved. NZRL’s Independent Appeals Committee also attempted to over-rule ARL’s suspension of directors.
“If the clubs come together – and that’s what NZRL wants them to do – the clubs can control what’s going to happen,” he said.
Russell meanwhile says she’s confident she’s leaving ARL in good shape.
She said the Auckland clubs had voted on a new constitution that demands greater rigour at board level, an appointments panel to screen applicants for the right skills, an increase in independent directors, and the removal of voting rights for life members.
“I think the clubs made it pretty clear they didn’t want any interference from NZRL.”
Only two of the current dozen life members turned up for the vote, she said, with one objecting to the removal of life member voting rights. The previous system had given “huge power” to life members, she said.
She said the mix has increased the skill set of those running a $15m organisation that served the 10,000 players across 30 clubs, along with a role managing the $78m held in its charitable investment arm, the Carlaw Heritage Trust.
The new board was now made up of three independent directors (up from two), a director elected by each of the three Auckland regions and a “wild card” director elected by all regions.
Voting was currently under way to choose a new board which would then choose her successor in the new year. Russell is expecting to finish next month and start with The Y in February.
“What we’re starting to see come through is really quality candidates. We’re not seeing those with conflicts. It looks to me that it is no longer a popularity contest.”
She said the internal office systems were now strong with a shift to digital tools and a great team carrying out the work.
Russell said discussions with NZRL had largely resolved friction between the organisations with some matters from the appeals board still lingering.
She said reflecting on the period of her leadership brought no second-guessing on decisions. “If you know in your heart and mind you’ve done things with integrity then you don’t have regrets.”
The $500,000 cost of the PwC report was the price paid for skipping processes for years, she said. “If it had been managed, we wouldn’t have this one-off cost. I don’t see it as a cost. I see it as an investment.”
'It's been a wild ride': Rebecca Russell quits Auckland rugby league after reforms
Russell reveals the changes she's made since uncovering fraud and mismanagement at ARL.www.nzherald.co.nz
I get the feeling she sorted out an amateur organisation but upset a lot of people along the way.
The proof will be if the ARL stays ‘corporate’ or goes back to a more amateur route once she’s gone. My pick is in 5 years we’re back to an old boys club running things again.
Good on Rebecca !
Let’s hope the ARL does not just go back to the old ways .
What would George Rainey think about what has taken place?
Let’s hope the ARL does not just go back to the old ways .
What would George Rainey think about what has taken place?
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John Nick
Contributor
Apart from the fiscal & admin clean out which was well overdue has anyone seen improvements in the footy side of the game?
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Considering the damage of covid on the grassroots game in Auckland, the game is really thriving, especially in junior footy. The Warriors success last year and the new junior rep and women’s opportunities are behind the success.
I know the rot at the top that has the public thinking that the whole ARL is a basket case but I know of some excellent people doing really good things in the organisation. Ironically, they missed out in buying the Warriors but have more people working for the Warriors now than they’ve ever had. Adding to that, the Warriors have a lot of local coaches involved in the pathways teams to lighten the load. We can thank the owner and Gould for that probably.
I also believe that there’s some good young refs coming through that could move on to the NRL and are getting professional training here to hopefully make that happen.
Getting the top sorted is massive. Losing $4m in the purchase and sale of the Warriors is massive and then the mismanagement on top of that hurts too. That money going in to support the clubs and grass roots makes a difference.
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Yeah, how they keep shooting them selves in the foot is mind boggling. Too much power and money in too few hands IMO. Buying the Warriors was madness.
BTW, they’ve done a massive upgrade of their website: https://www.aucklandleague.co.nz/
John Nick
Contributor
Thanks Viking. Good to hear from someone who knows the local scene.
I have been away from it too long.
Thanks for posting this.
My son wanted to play league last year. Well more tag for his age. I tried to get him to check with his classmates what rugby club they were with and that didn't go very far.
I tried some of the local league clubs and it looked like their sites hadn't been updated for years. Even going past it looked like no one went to the club. I have seen people there, training and playing since.
I even had a friend post on FaceBook about playing league and contacting the ARL. I did that and went back and forth. They didn't have any contact information for one of their own clubs.
Seen them listed there so might be able to move forward now. I'll leave the boy to deal with his mother.
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Some of the really small clubs didn’t survive covid or had to scale back to recover. I don’t think Mt Wellington survived and a number of the other clubs only have a few teams. A good example of this is ECB who had strong prems teams just 15 years ago but don’t have any seniors now that I know of. The women’s grades have breathed new life into the Auckland game IMO.
If the ARL could dominate tag, it would help local league too. NZTag have gotten too money hungry and their nationals and Oceania comps for juniors aren’t as popular as they used to be. ARL should throw some time and money at tag to grab the market. I like the ARL modules and rules compared to NZTag.
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