Australian rugby bosses feared COVID-19 could bring the game to its knees. But just two years after posting a $27m loss, RA believe they’re on track to post a profit this year
After harbouring genuine fears that COVID-19 could sink Rugby Australia, the game’s leaders believe the worst of the financial storm is now behind them and that a “remarkable turnaround” in 2021 could even lead to a profit in 2022.
And after stripping out $23m of Rugby Australia’s costs from 2019 levels, chief executive Andy Marinos said they could have even posted a profit in 2021 were it not for COVID-19 restrictions forcing a sold-out Wallabies-France Test at the SCG in July to be moved at the 11th hour. “We were really worried that we would go under, so we re-organised our debt facilities, really,” McLennan said.“We have more on call, and what we needed to do was not lose players overseas, keep the skeletal infrastructure of RA going, look after our good high-performance people and preserve what was left of the clubs and our collective infrastructure and the Wallabies.
“We believe a lot of the COVID impacts are behind us and now with positive news , we have a positive growth trajectory, with a really solid debt re-payment profile that gives us confidence we are moving in the right direction,” Marinos said. “What the guys have done is a brilliant job of stabilising and growing the game in Australia, but we need more. We need to invest more in pathways and player retention.”
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