Raelene Castle to visit Perth to mend bridges after Force saga

Rugby Australia’s new CEO is expected to visit Western Australia in an effort to mend bridges following the exiling of the Force from Super Rugby.

Raelene Castle will kick off her new job with a tour of all states and unions and plans to spend at least two days in Perth to repair relations between the Rugby Australia and Rugby WA after the Western Force was axed from Super Rugby.

“It won’t just be a pat on the shoulder, it will be a genuine engagement, for me that’s important,” Castle said at the start of her first day in the job.

“We have a state over there that has produced and continues to produce some good rugby talent and we need to make sure we find a way to engage with them.

“The ‘but’ is that I didn’t have anything to do with [the decision to shut down the Force] so I can say ‘I understand there’s been some very challenging times and I can hear all of that concern, but I can say ‘we need to draw a line in the sand and say this is how we can build a relationship to move forward’.”

Castle believes that is imperative for Rugby Australia to re-connect with the game at the grassroots levels.

“I think it’s important I get out and look and see what rugby looks like at a community level,” she said.

Castle has already met with Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, revealing she spent an hour with him before accepting the role of chief executive late last year. The pair will meet again on Tuesday for a two-hour chat.

“The relationship between the CEO and the coach is incredibly important,” Castle said.

“It’s about making sure that we find an engagement that works really well and that we can help each other and work closely together.”

The former Bulldogs CEO identified ‘stability’ as an important short-term outcome, hinting that the current relationships between the unions and national body are not healthy.

“It’s about those relationships,” she said. “When you’ve got a sport where the states, franchises and national body aren’t on the same page, it takes a lot of energy to be negative and throwing rocks at one another is not really helpful.

“There’s always going to be things you don’t agree on but I think it’s about what processes you put in place to make sure people have a chance to air those grievances. You have robust conversations but equally that when you come out the other side it’s based on a mutual respect that you all want [the sport] to be successful. That’s certainly what I’ll be striving for, to build that relationship with my fellow CEOs.”