An A$21M ($15.63M) "property windfall" has turned the "humble" Rugby Club in Sydney's Central Business District into the "richest club in the country -- and the code's heavy-hitters are watching with interest what happens next," according to Georgina Robinson of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Australian and New South Wales rugby unions are reportedly "aware of the staggering sale, which has transformed the 71-year-old club from a pokies-and-schooners outfit with an annual profit in the low six-figures into a major player on the rugby landscape." In a plan that "will be presented to members at an annual general meeting next Wednesday, the club will eschew well-meaning offers of help and strategic advice" from the Australian Rugby Union and NSW Rugby Union and "set up a foundation to implement its long-standing objective of promoting and supporting the game." Rugby Club Chair Angus Bruxner "declined to comment ahead of the meeting, but confirmed the board had formulated a strategic plan" with the foundation at its center. The sale, which was agreed upon two years ago, was finalized in Sept. '15, with the net proceeds of the deal totaling A$19.6M invested in "interest-bearing term deposits," according to the club's '15 annual report (SMH, 11/25).
