Rugby Australia appointed Phil Kearns executive director of the country's '27 World Cup bid, a move that "brings at least a temporary halt" to his ambitions of becoming RA CEO. However, in "many respects his new job could be even more important to the future of the game" in Australia. There is "no question" that RA Chair Hamish McLennan also views the '27 Cup bid as "vital to the survival of the game in Australia and has assembled an extraordinary group of people to form an advisory board for the bidding process." The board will be chaired by former British Airways CEO Rod Eddington and includes former Australia Prime Minister John Howard, former Australia Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, IOC VP John Coates and former rugby player John Eales. Russia has "indicated it is considering bidding" and McLennan "expects a rival will still emerge from somewhere between now" and '22 when the '27 host is expected to be announced (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/4).
Meanwhile, National Rugby League side Sydney Roosters Chair Nick Politis has "hammered another nail in the coffin of private equity, claiming he has no desire to see his club one day in the hands of overseas investors." Politis, arguably the "most powerful man in rugby league and one of the most respected businessman in the country, has spent a lifetime dealing with private investors." He said, “They are not coming into it because they love rugby league. They are doing it because they want to make money. Whatever they want to put in, they want to take out two or three times over" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/5).
