Concerns about Raelene Castle’s welfare contributed to a loss of confidence in her leadership before her abrupt resignation as chief executive, Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Paul McLean said yesterday.
Late on Thursday, the New Zealander quit after nearly three years at the helm, saying she believed that the RA board no longer wanted her in the role amid a financial crisis compounded by the COVID-19 shutdown.
McLean said that 48-year-old Castle was a victim of “bullying” on social media and that other executives might have been broken by the personal criticism she endured during her tenure.
“One of my greatest concerns with her was her welfare and how she was on a daily basis,” McLean, a former captain of the Wallabies, told reporters in a videoconference. “A lesser person would have thrown the towel in ages ago.”
“The discussion that we had to have as a board was what is the succession plan if Raelene walked in, rang me one day and said: ‘Paul, I’m gone — I can’t do this anymore’?” McLean added. “So we’d had some broader discussions about that over the past six months and I suppose it crystalized with some new eyes around the board table — and it probably crystalized with the circumstances that we’re all facing, with the general economy and how we’re living our lives at the moment.”
Castle quit only two days after telling reporters that she was determined to see RA through the coronavirus shutdown, which has left it battling for survival.
McLean, who is set to step down on July 31, said that he would take on the role of executive chairman in the “very short term,” while the board decided whether to appoint an interim replacement for Castle during the search for a permanent CEO.
The board was not settled on whether the next CEO needed ties to the game or could come from outside it, McLean said.
“Both have significant value,” he said. “The rugby connection is really important because that’s what we do, that’s our business.”
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