AUSTRALIA’S chief executive has met with some of the country’s biggest sports figures to discuss what he calls a “bigger agenda” for the sport.
Michael Cheika met sports leaders including the NRL’s Shane Flanagan, who was in Sydney last week to visit a club in the southern suburbs, to discuss the impact of the Great Barrier Reef on the sport and how it will be affected by climate change.
“We’re very much aware that rugby is a game of the future and we’re keen to build on what we’ve done over the last decade,” Mr Cheika told reporters.
In a statement, Mr Flanagan said the meeting was “productive” and he hoped to have “a stronger agenda to deliver for rugby and its players”.
Mr Cheika is also keen to hear from the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), which he will chair in coming months.
He is expected to present a report to Mr Flanagans leadership team in the coming months, with the aim of making changes to the game’s structure, structure of governance and structure of participation.
Mr Flanagan also said he would like to see an increase in the number of high-performance athletes.
The AFL, which has already had to cut thousands of players because of climate change, has said it is “committed” to meeting Mr Cheema’s ambition to reduce its workforce to 25 per cent by 2020.
ABC/wiresTopics:sports,australia,government-and-politics,coronavirus,environment,weather-event,environmental-impact,weather,climate-change,environment-management,rainy-day-event-2020,weatherall-year,melbourne-3000,vic,aotearoa-3350,nsw,brisbane-4000,southport-4215,warragut-4530,port-norfolk-4217,south-east-4024,southern-austria-4702First posted August 08, 2020 16:28:19Contact John WoottonMore stories from Victoria