How rugby's bid for Joey was sunk
Saturday, May 29, 2004
It has long been an obsession of rugby union but, ultimately, the clandestine meetings, the secret codename and a paltry offer came to naught as the Waratahs' bold bid to sign Andrew Johns was lost. Greg Growden reveals why rugby union failed to land the world's best league player.
Eddie Jones wanted Andrew Johns. NSW wanted Andrew Johns. Johns was intrigued. But, in the end, the Australian Rugby Union, which had originally led the charge for the Kangaroos captain's signature in a drive that included two recent clandestine meetings with Johns, made an about-turn and said, "No".
The Johns saga is a complex, often bewildering affair, with a fair share of intrigue, which has ultimately undermined relationships between NSW Rugby Union officials and the ARU.
The Herald last week revealed NSW had made Johns their No.1 target for the 2005 Super 12 season, but rugby has been pursuing the world's best league player for some time.
The first serious indication the ARU was interested in Johns was in 2000, when its then chief executive officer John O'Neill said the Wallabies were keen on several high-profile league players. Johns was high on the hit list.
And it again became an ARU issue just before Johns injured his knee in late March, when the first of two meetings, involving Wallabies coach Jones, ARU high-performance manager Brett Robinson and Johns, was held at the Sydney home of Johns's manager John Fordham.
The meeting was so secret that a special code was used in any contact between Fordham, Jones and Robinson. Johns's name was never used in correspondence. Instead, Johns was referred to as "Player Y".
Fordham yesterday confirmed to the Herald the two meetings had taken place and the letter "Y" was used because it was the last letter of Johns's nickname, Joey.
The second meeting between Jones, Robinson and Johns was held just over a month ago, again at Fordham's house. Both were "curiosity" sessions, at which Jones and Robinson discussed rugby with Johns, but never got to the negotiation stage. The meetings were a "question and answer, getting to know you" exercise.
Chasing Johns's signature again became a priority a few weeks ago, when after another up-and-down NSW season, Waratahs officials decided they would fail in the Super 12 unless they found a consistent, match-winning pivot. Someone like Johns.
NSW officials knew they had the forward pack to win the Super 12. But they needed midfield authority to unleash the exceptional attacking talents of former league players Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers.
And they were aware several key forwards were becoming irritated that all their good work up-front was being wasted because the team did not have an authoritative five-eighth with the required kicking game. Good ball was being wasted. Poor kicking options in several Super 12 matches had afforded the forwards little respite from making tackle after tackle. The Waratahs were concerned a divide could form between the forwards and the backs if the situation continued and the team would be doomed.
Knowing that Jones wanted Johns, NSW, confident they had the backing of the Australian coach, started the process of trying to speak with the Newcastle Knights player. However, NSW soon discovered there was considerable opposition in the ARU ranks.
Several officials, including Robinson and at least one ARU board member, had raised doubts over whether Johns would be a good investment, especially as he had just turned 30 and had suffered several serious injuries.
Robinson's support was crucial, especially as he is intimately involved in all contract negotiations. The old guard at the ARU was also worried rugby was becoming a lucrative retirement home for former league stars, the code having already signed Tuqiri, Rogers and Wendell Sailor.
The ARU was unimpressed that the NSWRU had gone public over its eagerness to get Johns, arguing there was a proper process for the recruitment of all players, and that was not through newspapers. An ARU official told the Herald on Wednesday: "This is not the proper way to conduct business." The Herald has learned that on Wednesday a high-ranking NSW official was chastised by an ARU board member.
NSW were in a tricky situation: they needed the ARU's support for top-up funding to be able to provide an attractive financial package for Johns. Buoyed by the Wallabies coach's interest, they kept pushing for a meeting with Johns. However, barriers kept being put in their way. ARU officials offered little support and NSW's bid to have a meeting with Johns finally failed.
This angered several NSW officials, who had been told that Johns "genuinely wanted to join Rogers and Tuqiri at the Waratahs".
They rightfully believed a golden opportunity to snare Johns was being ruined through higher intervention and conflicting voices from within the ARU bunker. NSW, aware of the growing division between several ARU employees, became wary of at least two ARU officials. Following a demand from Fordham, all the parties met on Thursday. Those at the meeting included ARU acting chief executive officer Matt Carroll, Robinson and NSWRU chief executive Fraser Neill.
Well before the meeting, the ARU had made up its mind. On Wednesday night, the ARU media staff had drafted a media release, stating the union would not be "seeking to contract" Johns.
However, Carroll decided to delay the media release until the following day. On Thursday morning, and before the start of the meeting, an ARU media staff member told the Herald the media release would be made public at 2pm that day.
At that stage, Fordham said Johns remained committed to rugby league.
"I went to the meeting to see if there was any genuine interest in Andrew Johns," Fordham said yesterday. "I wasn't there to negotiate a contract."
At the meeting, Carroll explained why the ARU was not interested in Johns, giving several reasons, including the player's age and recent problems with injury. Carroll made it clear the ARU would not add any money to NSW's offer. Neill was asked if the NSWRU could finance Johns on its own. Neill was not confident - he knew the Waratahs were sunk without ARU support.
All the Waratahs could offer Johns on their own was $155,000 - the average wage of a Super 12 player.
Fordham shook his head, before uttering: "What am I doing here?"
"I left the meeting very angry," Fordham said yesterday. "That meeting was like going to visit Fort Fumble . . . it was embarrassing. Based on what has gone on over the last few days, I now have no confidence in dealing with the ARU high-performance unit. And I can understand why there are now serious moves to have that unit dismantled."
The ARU was surprised that 20 minutes before its statement was to be released to the media, Fordham gazumped them with an official release that said Johns was staying in league. Cleverly, Fordham had stolen the ARU's thunder. But the fact remained the ARU hierarchy did not want Johns, as the union pointed out in its press release, which arrived, as expected, at 2pm.
The upshot is NSW have missed out on Johns and are worried it may adversely affect their efforts to keep Tuqiri, who has yet to decide whether to remain in union or return to league next year. Tuqiri was genuinely excited by the prospect of playing alongside Johns at NSW. As was Rogers.
Senior NSW players contacted Johns on Thursday and were told that although he was originally interested in the NSW proposal, he was now "out". A particular ARU official was blamed.
The deadline for Tuqiri's decision about where he will play next season was originally yesterday. That deadline has now been extended and the Waratahs are praying the Johns saga does not make Tuqiri predisposed to returning to league. They are hopeful, but not overly confident, Tuqiri will be with the Waratahs in 2005.
And so NSW are still looking for someone, anyone, to become their match-winner at No.10. They are getting desperate. The high-priority names are Julian Huxley, Manuel Edmonds and Shane Drahm. Huxley is again in favour, and Edmonds and Drahm would have to be lured back from overseas.
And, once again, the relationship between NSW and the ARU is tense. As a NSW official said last night: "There are going to be serious ramifications over this whole mess."
Sorry to say that guys.
