Raelene Castle (Ngāpuhi) has resigned as CEO of Rugby Australia (RA). This comes as Rugby Australia continues to struggle financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's been reported that 75 percent of the RA workforce had been stood down for three months due to the COVID-19 crisis, at the same time Castle was taking a 50 percent pay cut.
Despite recent controversial comments from ex-Wallaby players on Castles, today NZR acknowledges the commitment, hard work and dedication Castle has given to Australian rugby saying, "NZR has always enjoyed a special and close relationship with Rugby Australia and Raelene has worked hard to both enhance and strengthen that. We have enjoyed working with her and are sad to see her go, however we respect her decision to resign."
They say, "It says a lot about Raelene’s character that while we consider that she still has much to contribute to Rugby Australia, she has taken an unselfish look at what is best for the game in Australia."
Castle had been CEO of RA since January 2018, and previously worked as the CE of the Canterbury Bulldogs NRL franchise, as well as New Zealand Netball.