John O'Neil story

[Marcus]

I saw his story on foxsports the other night. Quite interesting and sounds like an okay sort of a guy.

I bet the leaguies would like to claim him as a leaguie now, since he clearly said he played league first when he was in the catholic school system in primary school :lol:

The program showed a different side of him that many don't know about. He spoke highly of the AFL and the NRL which he described as "far from a spent force".

I think he has been a tremendous force behind unions growth in Australia, and it has come down due to the fact he has a great passion for the game and that he has ambitious goals for it.

Asked if whether he would like to be the CEO of the IRB, he said he would but would doubt if he got voted into the position. Mainly because the IRB is still too amateurish in there thinking and would feel threatened by someone like O'Neil.

I hope maybe O'Neil could become head of the IRB in the future. I think he is the right person to make rugby a bigger game around the world.

 

[iggy plop]

Turkey neck o'neil is a complete toss. The guy is in love with himself big time. Rah Rah!

 

[Marcus]

Turkey neck o'neil is a complete toss. The guy is in love with himself big time. Rah Rah!

You hate him because he is good at what he does. If league had a guy like him you can be certain your game wouldn't be stuck on the east-coast like it is now.

 

[Skippy1]

Haven't seen much of the bloke myself, but he certainly seems to be a hard-nosed businessman. He certainly didn't pull any punches with the Kiwi's over the Co-Hosting rights. While a lot of Kiwi's believed he screwed them, it was actually the NZRFU that was messing about and in the process, threatening Australia's chances of hosting the WC as well. Remember well that the IRB was consulting with France to see if they could manage it if the worst came to the worst.

 

[Auckland4ever]

Though O'Neill is still disliked by many in NZ, I think most people see the arrogance & incompetence of the former NZRFU administration as the reason we lost sub-host status.
Personally, I think O'Neill would be great for the game as IRB chairman. He's proactive & I reckon there would be a lot of innovaton & forward thinking under his leadership.

 

[Skippy1]

To be honest Auck, I don't think a lot of Aussies like him that much either. But then that's not what he's paid for. It's a business now, and as such, has to be run properly, despite what the old boys say about how professionalism has killed the spirit of the game. Myself I disagree with this attitude. The money is giving the game the chance to expand and bring it to more people around the world. And it is all down to the O'Neill's of this world willing to give it a good push.

 

[Stevo_G]

o"neil is a goose he thinks union is a true world game

 

[Mango]

O'neill may be difficult but he has Rugby's best interests at heart. The Minor nations would be at full strength for the RWC with O'neill at the helm and several NH clubs would be on the wrong end of a hiding. The man is a progressive thinker and would entrench Rugby at the upper end of World Sport.

 

[Auckland4ever]

It's a business now, and as such, has to be run properly, despite what the old boys say about how professionalism has killed the spirit of the game. Myself I disagree with this attitude.

Yeah. People have a habit of looking at the past through rose-coloured glasses. Its really only since union went professional that I've become a fan. The players are better athletes than they were(though not necessarily tougher), there are more games to watch, beamed to more people, the playing field is more even even than it was, shamateurism is no more. Thats not to say there havent been great players, teams & clashes in the past, but I dont know why anyone would want to go back.

 

[Stevo_G]

the minor nations have a chance of beatin aus, nz & eng and after the world cup the sport will grow and rugby will be at the uper end of world sport :lol: i am sure this will happen, next soccer will come under attack by union

 

[dimitri]

yeah

rugby will overtake


cricket
hockey
handball
tennis
soccer
GOLF

and many many other sports and become the biggest sport in the world


:roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[bayrep]

yeah

rugby will overtake


cricket
hockey
handball
tennis
soccer
GOLF

and many many other sports and become the biggest sport in the world


:roll: :roll: :roll:

I can definitely see why that would scare you Dim and Stevo, being close minded enough to only enjoy one sport that you do. Of course Union is never going to challange the above sports its not going to get close but there is still room for it to grow as a world sport and for some reason this seems to scare the sh!t out of you two.

As for O'neil he still p!sses me off but he is good at what he does and for pushing the growth of the game then I can see no better man for the job. As for Stevo's comments about O'Neil thinking that Union is God sent. Of Course he is going to say that he is trying to push a game in a country that he is Chairman of. If it was League he would be doing exactly the same thing. Take your blinkers off.