The Self Perpetuated Myth of John O’Neill

John O’Neill publicly claims that he isn’t the messiah but those who are engaged with him in the business of sports or those with a deep understanding of egomania don’t really believe John thinks of himself as anything less than a modern day god.

He certainly has positioned himself to be viewed as The Creator, The Overseer and The Final Judge.

Modesty is only used when it is politically expedient. O’Neill certainly didn’t show too much humility when attributing the success of the 2003 rugby World Cup to none other than John O’Neill. He wasn’t meek in shaping history to suggest he was responsible for the Socceroos making a successful run at the 2006 soccer World Cup. It is all about the team these days, however, with rugby stuck deep in the wells of public irrelevance, political in-fighting and historical intransigence. Mea culpa isn’t really a phrase in O’Neill’s vocabulary. And when the times get tough he is no longer The Great Creator but just another member of the team who simply cannot be held responsible for such dramatic failings across all key indicators.

There are plenty of physicians who would argue heavily that O’Neill has a God Complex and while I haven’t run the tests or appointed any qualified individuals to offer any definitive analysis, I would tend to agree. At the very least, O’Neill is an egomaniac whose has attempted to shape the historical luck that saw him stumble into the right places at the right times into an image that he himself defines success and is the man to lead the slaves from Egypt.

Post coital bliss, for a neurotic like your author, is usually interrupted by Annie Hall like visions of a team of judges sending through scores like I was an Olympic gymnast. They tend to be only fair to middling as I fret over a lack of moaning, a slip of the knee, an ill-advised move, wondering if the girl next to me will ever sleep with me again. The vision for an egomaniac is much more self-assuring with perfect tens all round. The sleep afterwards is, obviously, far more sound for the egomaniac than the neurotic despite the realities of the situation probably not being all that different.

Sadly, most in the sports media have bought the magic beans and continue to push the great John O’Neill myth that he is one of sport’s grand administrators, a politician on the rise and the architect of Great Successes, a fine leader of men and an organisational guru, a visionary and the magic touch.

The reality is that he is nothing more than an ambitious bureaucrat whose defining skill as a sports administrator is to be in the right place at the right time. And even that skill seems to be abandoning him these days.

Rugby union certainly went through its most halcyon of days during O’Neill’s first tenure as CEO of the ARU. The Wallabies were successful. The Super Rugby competition held some relevance. Australia won and hosted a World Cup. Most importantly, the sporting public seemed actually give a fuck about the sport, something that hasn’t really occurred before or since.

O’Neill’s impact on this half-decade run of success rugby had in Australia was minimal.

The two key factors that led to rugby’s success at the turn of the century were rugby’s move to professionalism and the Super League War. Throw in a national coach who was a proponent of (relatively) attractive rugby and the coincidental rise of a talented crop of players and it quickly becomes apparent that O’Neill contributed very little to rugby’s rise. If anything, he laid the groundwork for the heavy fall before jumping ship.

The increased exposure and relative boost in standard of play caused by rugby’s move to professionalism combined with the disaffection created by the Super League War certainly were the key contributors to the aberration that was rugby’s success at the opening end of the decade. Die hard league fans became disillusioned with the game in the late-nineties. Those who lost teams couldn’t bear to watch. Casual fans found the sport to be on the nose. With a new and fresh alternative, many in New South Wales and Queensland flirted with union.

That flirtation became somewhat of a romance with the success and style of play under coach Rod Macqueen and skipper John Eales. The Wallabies were winners. They played open rugby with likable personalities and there was, at least on the surface, none of the bloodshed associated with rugby league.

O’Neill claims this period as a personal success but his contribution was virtually zero. Even the successful hosting of the World Cup was only partially his doing with rugby writer Andrew Stevenson writing that ARU insiders were unhappy O’Neill didn’t give more credit to offsider Matt Carroll, who was the actual driving force behind the organisation of such a major event.

Rather, O’Neill was viewed internally as overstepping his role as CEO by constantly being seen with the Prime Minister throughout the World Cup. He ostracised many in rugby circles by being the central focus of a documentary on the World Cup. He got the players offside over pay disputes and his constant interference, particularly in terms of the captaincy, where he strongly opposed George Gregan. He tellingly sold the game’s premier provincial competition’s rights exclusively to pay television ensuring rugby had very little exposure on free-to-air in Australia, taking the short term dollars at the long term cost of a much narrower audience to build a fanbase from. His throwing of big money at league names like Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri, all of whom had limited success at union, only further infuriated senior players and those involved in grassroots union. His failure to secure Andrew Johns because of political in-fighting in Australian rugby embarrassed the code and added to the perception that union was run by amateurs.

The campaign to fatally damage league by raiding its player stocks in the early part of the decade, driven by O’Neill himself, was particularly damaging to rugby. O’Neill’s plan for domination backfired to such an extent that union looked like a cashed-up bogan: plenty of money but no class, bling with tight white pants. Those who defected had only marginal success, particularly at first, before they all returned to the game they loved yet were all jettisoned straight into the Wallabies where they were staples. The NRL continued to rise in popularity proving that it can constantly replenish its talent while union had to fork out big money for unsuitable players who only went across for the cash. This cannot be underestimated when analysing the return to the normal low popularity of the sport.

John O’Neill was so important to the success of union during that period that, it was rumoured, the ARU had decided not to renew O’Neill’s contract and were extremely happy to see him walk in early 2004. It isn’t really common practice to see organisations whose success is attributed to one man let that man go.

O’Neill then went to soccer at a time the game was undergoing major changes thanks to a parliamentary review and a Frank Lowy driven restructure. O’Neill came in to handle big money with the plans already in place. He is credited with establishing the A-League but the A-League would have been established regardless and at any rate, it has hardly been a roaring success. It is certainly more relevant than the NSL but what does that mean? Nothing, that’s what that means. The Socceroos were successful while O’Neill was at the helm but that was almost entirely the result of national coach Guus Hiddink, who was pursued and wooed and signed by Frank Lowy. The Great O’Neill had, in fact, assured then coach Frank Farina of the head coaching position until after the World Cup.

O’Neill stated early in his term that he wanted to stay five years but was gone in less than two after reportedly falling out with the real architect behind soccer’s improved status in Australia, Frank Lowy. Again, hardly the manner in which a key to success is treated. O’Neill again walked but again it was a case of jumping before The Big push.

Those with a heavy ego have a pleasant habit of leaving before the going gets rough. And O’Neill, on the verge of being shoved out the door twice and with both rugby and soccer at least on the precipice of flat-lining (in soccer’s case) or a major downturn (of historical proportions, in the case of union), walked to preserve both legacy and image and, of course, future job prospects.

And it worked. The media lapped it up. The Iemma Government appointed him to head Events New South Wales and kept him in the position when he returned to the ARU Chief Executive position despite the blatant conflict of interest that looks set to rear its head when the board attempts to stage a Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney on the opening weekend of the NRL finals. The ARU, after suffering the inevitable return to the norm that saw rugby back to its rightful position of the number four football code in Australia, decided to lynch O’Neill’s replacement Gary Flowers and then, in an act of grave desperation, reappoint the man they had willingly let go only three-and-a-half years earlier.

In the two-plus years O’Neill has been back in charge of the ARU, rugby union has delved further into the mire of irrelevance, O’Neill now sleeping in the bed he made only a few years ago. Union has very little exposure because of an awful television deal that sees only Test matches shown on free-to-air. Gates continue to drop at all levels with the ARU takings dropping over $1 million in the last year. On field performances from both the Wallabies and the four Super 14 teams have been embarrassing. The move for a fifth Australian franchise in Melbourne has been disastrous on all levels with O’Neill not only unable to secure the fifth license for Australia but also ostracising Vic Rugby by siding with a private bid. Sponsors are abandoning the code due to dwindling support with Bundaberg Rum, the most salient supporter of rugby, already beginning the shift to league. Ratings for international matches have been so bad that rugby league Test matches virtually double them in ratings, a great blow to a sport that has always insisted on having a stronger international scene than its main rival. Ex players, coaches, officials and administrators as well as a number currently involved in the game have been caught up in O’Neill’s divisive politicking. O’Neill again widened the gap between the ARU and senior Wallabies players with his covert sacking of Lote Tuqiri. And that is just the overview.

O’Neill, of course, is not prepared to take the bullwhipping for the negative when he was happy to claim the bouquets for the good but the tale of the tape shows O’Neill’s contribution to rugby being far more negative than positive.

O’Neill, simply, isn’t the administrator he or his supporters would have punters believe. He is divisive, egotistical, short sighted and stubborn. His results, when broken down, also don’t provide any evidence that he is anything more than a competent boss with a knack preserving his legacy by walking before being pushed. To compare John O’Neill to David Gallop or even Andrew Demetriou is like comparing Rocky of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame to Rocky Marciano or Nelson Rockefeller: he simply isn’t in their league.

The myth of John O’Neill ends here.