Why next NZR chair Dame Patsy Reddy is highly rated
The former Governor General will have plenty on her plate when she enters the high-pressure job, writes
Departing NZ Rugby chair Stewart Mitchell has backed Dame Patsy Reddy to be a formidable operator when she creates history to become the first female leader of the board.
Given the stoushes NZ Rugby has had with Rugby Australia in recent years, Reddy, New Zealand’s Governor General between 2016 and 2021, may be required to call upon all her diplomacy and negotiation skills when she replaces Mitchell on January 31.
In addition to liaising with other international unions from around the world, she will also have the responsibility of working with NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson, board members and the game’s stakeholders to serve the professional and amateur arms of the sport.
Reddy and her board will also be charged with having to decide, probably in her first meeting as chair next month, whether to appoint the next All Blacks coach before, or after, the World Cup in France.
As Mitchell discovered when he replaced Brent Impey in mid2021, being in the high-profile position requires a thick skin, a strong work ethic and the street smarts to deal with delicate issues at home and abroad.
Take Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan, for example.
When Covid-19 caused the previous Super Rugby format to be scrapped in 2020, the relationship between NZ Rugby and Rugby Australia splintered in spectacular fashion with the brash McLennan repeatedly firing shots at his counterparts through the media before the two parties agreed to plonk a lid on the simmering tensions and keep Super Rugby in place through to 2030.
McLennan, who along with his CEO Andy Marinos, recently hatched a ruthless plan to dump Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and replace him with Eddie Jones, likes to get his way.
For all that, however, Mitchell says he got along with well with his counterpart and reckons Reddy possesses the brains and toughness to thrive in the maledominated industry.
‘‘Dame Patsy is very professional,’’ Mitchell says. ‘‘She has had a high-flying corporate career in the late 1990s and been involved in big deals and big issues.
‘‘I have no qualms whatsoever that she will represent NZ Rugby as it should be. She has picked up the business aspect, and the sport aspect, really well.’’
Prior to being Governor General, Reddy had a career as a lawyer, director and crown negotiator. Now, having only joined the NZ Rugby board less than a year ago, she has been fasttracked into the role of chair.
Mitchell, who is constitutionally required to step down after nine years on the board, said he declined to wait until the annual meeting in April to make his exit. He believed it was appropriate to ‘‘set the scene’’ prior to the annual meeting to see if there was a unified view as to who should be the next chair, which led to a unanimous vote in favour of Reddy from the board.
‘‘Rather than going another three months with a whole lot of conjecture about what might happen at the AGM, I thought it was certainly a wise move to set the scene,’’ Mitchell said.
‘‘She is a remarkable woman. It is fair to say her background hasn’t been rugby, or indeed sport probably, but I have to say I have been hugely impressed by the way she has immersed herself in the business.’’
As a member of the board that voted to retain Ian Foster as All Blacks coach, rather than replace him with Scott Robertson, Reddy will be aware how passionate Kiwis are about their national game.
Her role will also require her to liaise closely with CEO Robinson, who has experienced a wild ride since replacing Steve Tew in early 2020.
Within months of taking over Tew’s office, Robinson had to deal with the mayhem caused by the pandemic and was embroiled in the saga with the NZ Rugby Players’ Association as the parties navigated a solution to the private equity deal with Silver Lake.
Later he was involved with the decision in 2021 to extend Foster’s contract through to the World Cup, but was critical of the All Blacks when they lost the Ireland series 2-1 in New Zealand, stating the result was ‘‘ not acceptable’’.
In the following weeks Foster went close to being sacked and replaced by Crusaders coach Robertson, before the board voted to retain the incumbent.
It will be paramount that Robinson’s working relationship with Reddy functions well on multiple levels.
Despite Robinson’s
‘‘I have no qualms whatsoever that she will represent NZ Rugby as it should be. She has picked up the business aspect, and the sport aspect, really well.’’
Stewart Mitchell
ment in multiple dramas, Mitchell defended the performance of his CEO and the board.
‘‘Well, it certainly has been a turbulent period,’’ Mitchell said. ‘‘Someone has put it to me that it was possibly the most (turbulent) since the 1981 Springboks tour, or even perhaps 1996 when (rugby) turned professional.
‘‘It has certainly been challenging for all of us, at management and board level. I think we have worked well together.
‘‘We haven’t always got everything right. But we have always made decisions collectively and unanimously where we can, in the best interests of the game.’’
In September, NZ Rugby was denied $280,0000 in Sport NZ funding because it didn’t reach the Government-mandated 40% women on its board.
NZ Rugby currently has three women on its nine-strong board. The $280,000 will be returned if the quota is met. The earliest NZ Rugby can be compliant with the target will be at the annual meeting in April.