The Blues: A hospital pass?
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When it comes to jobs in rugby, they don’t come much harder than the one Andrew Hore is walking into.
Hore is the latest person willing to have a crack at waking the sleeping giant of New Zealand rugby, known as the Blues.
Andy Dalton and Michael Redman departed without getting the Blues to repeat their success in 1996, 1997 and 2003 and it’s been a painful and often embarrassing existence since then.
The latest CEO up for the challenge is Hore, who was CEO at the Ospreys in Wales then began the process of turning around the Waratahs and NSW Rugby, as well as dealing with Israel Folau, before deciding it was time to return to New Zealand for an equally challenging job at the Blues.
The days when the Blues could attract crowds of over 40,000 have faded from memory, replaced by season upon season of disappointment, when they’ve continually been the worst performing New Zealand Super Rugby team.
But Hore, who beat off 70 applicants to become Blues CEO, believes those happy days can return to Eden Park.
‘‘I think people are hungry for it,’’ Hore said from Sydney, where he is working out his notice period with NSW Rugby.
‘‘They’ve had a lot of time without that success and they’re looking to buy into something that’s pretty special.
‘‘I genuinely believe there is real opportunity. There are obviously reasons why [they’ve failed], you can’t go away from a centre with that kind of playing base and just think there’s not a passion for the game there, there is. It’s about unlocking that and getting success that people are looking for, want to get alongside and enjoy.
‘‘Players and administrators have all got a part to play to turn around what’s been 16 years of not really succeeding, depending on what you define success as.
‘‘But success comes in many different ways, there are a lot of sports teams out there that don’t win a great deal in significant competitions, but still have a massive following.
‘‘So the question that has to be asked is that in the lean years, when we’re not winning, what’s our sense of purpose that makes people still want to be a part of us? What do we stand for and what makes a person put on our jersey?
‘‘Sometimes it’s not trophies that do that, it’s what the business stands for as well.
‘‘If you look at someone like the Green Bay Packers, they don’t win a great deal, but they have one of the bigger sporting charities in the world, or FC Barcelona, those entities have a bigger purpose over and above winning trophies.
‘‘That said, don’t diminish the value of winning trophies, they’re important, but at the same time we need to build something that gives us a strong sense of purpose.’’
Hore comes across as a likeable guy, chatty and appears approachable to the media, something that was lacking from his two predecessors.
He seems willing to shake things up at the Blues and the value he brought to the Waratahs can be measured by the comments from their chairman Roger Davis, who told the Sydney Morning Herald that Hore’s departure was ‘shit timing’ and he felt ‘let down’. So NSW’s loss appears to be the Blues’ gain.
‘‘It was quite interesting reading that, because you’ve got to understand Roger, he wears his heart on his sleeve,’’ Hore said. ‘‘There were a lot of compliments in that article as well and there is a lot of emotion because everyone has put their shoulder to the wheel here and that’s got to be the same at the Blues.
‘‘There are good things happening there and if we all roll in, we can achieve some special things too.’’
Like their neighbours, the Warriors, there have been many false dawns at the Blues. Bigname signings have failed to deliver and they’ve allowed quality players from within the region to be snapped up by other teams.
Success won’t happen overnight and it would take a brave or foolish person to pick them to win next year’s Super Rugby title, but Hore believes he can build on foundations already in place.
‘‘There has been a lot of positive change that’s occurred though over the last little while, that people won’t necessarily get excited about, but a rugby geek like me would,’’ he said.
‘‘It will ultimately come down to performance, that will be the biggest way we can change public influence, as well as continuing to tell the story on how we rebuild the Blues.’’
‘‘. . . we need to build something that gives us a strong sense of purpose.’’ Andrew Hore