Castle was besieged for much of tenure
Former Wallabies captain Phil Kearns was looking good to land the Rugby Australia job in 2017 – until the interview process actually started.
Flailing, he was well beaten by a Kiwi called Raelene Castle, who went through seven interviews to get the job – getting progressively better – and had Wallabies coaching legend Rod Macqueen among her referees.
This week Kearns was one of 10 former Australian skippers captains who signed a letter calling for Castle’s dismissal.
Such is the world of Australian rugby politics. The record will show that Castle served for two years, but survived might be a better word.
Castle, who was not interviewed for this piece, will dust herself off and battle on.
There is admiration within the game at her sheer capacity to get out of bed every morning and keep going considering the relentless campaign waged against her.
The favourite target of vitriolic Australian shock jock Alan Jones, Castle was the subject of constant attacks that were designed to make her position untenable.
She was too Kiwi, too female, too independent of broadcaster Fox Sport: take your pick.
She had stumbles, of course. Trusting the immature Israel Folau to align his religious beliefs with an ounce of common sense was one, but even in that instance where were the voices telling her not to resign Australia’s only superstar?
There were none. In fact, when the history of Castle’s two years in charge is written, it will show that her critics were full of self interest and amnesia.
For example, the decision not to sack Michael Cheika was another Castle ‘failing’ (the decision to retain him was driven by a lack of quality alternatives, rather than the financial costs).
But here is George Gregan talking about that very subject in 2017. ‘‘There’s no one who is going to be head coach if Cheika is not there. Michael Cheika has a true direction as to where he wants this team to go.’’
Gregan went on to get coaching work with the Wallabies last year, but he was another of those former skippers who signed the letter calling for leadership change.
Castle’s resignation asks some searching questions about what this means for New Zealand Rugby, and whether it can still see Rugby Australia as a reliable partner.
The plans of those who pushed for Castle’s removal are not clear.
There is noisy talk of a transTasman competition to replace Super Rugby but there are also fears in Australia that Rugby Australia’s bargaining power at the table with New Zealand has been vastly overstated by the insurgents.
What’s in it for New Zealand, who could build a robust domestic competition that would be more attractive than the Australian version, and also have the earning power of the All Blacks?
Would a trans-Tasman competition address the fundamental problems of Australian rugby – a poor Wallabies side and a Waratahs organisation that underachieves on the field and is a commercial basketcase?
The Wallabies issue was not lost on Castle.
As a result, she went out and and did what CEOs can do to control results. She helped to rebuild Australia’s Junior Wallabies programme and hired Dave Rennie, who rugby people in this country will tell you was a missed opportunity for the All Blacks.
Rennie is a smart man who would have peppered Castle with questions about the potential pitfalls. In response he got assurances from Castle about the character in the Wallabies and desire for improvement.
You heard that correctly. Castle went out and fought for Australian rugby, in spite of all in the bile.
In return, she leaves with a knife in her back, departing a rugby culture that has just shown its weakness, not its strength.