New Brumbies interim CEO Phil Thomson says the ARU has no plans of taking over the Brumbies.
Thomson, also the ARU Integrity manager, was announced as the temporary boss on Thursday after the Brumbies took up an offer from the ARU but said his appointment was no sign of any further involvement from the national body.
“I can guarantee that ARU have no intention of taking over the Brumbies,” Thomson said.
“They want the Brumbies to be a stable, sustainable organisation from 2017 and onwards.”
Thomson has a long rugby history in Canberra, having grown up and played in the national’s capital before joining the Brumbies in their inaugural season in 1996 as the team manager.
“I had a great time here from ’96, it was a great time to be involved with the Brumbies,” he said.
“I had six years here as team manager before I moved onto the Wallabies, and that was a great opportunity that the Brumbies gave me.
“I just feel that I’m in a position now to add some assistance and my rugby administration knowledge back to the organisation to help them through this time,” he said.
The search for a new CEO has begun and Thomson is happy to fill the void until a new CEO is confirmed.
“At this stage we’re looking at that 3-6 month timeframe for the board to conduct their search for a fulltime CEO,” Thomson said.
In that time Thomson has a lot of hard work instore after a tumultuous few months for the club off the field.
“I think it’s pretty obvious there’s a lot of tension out there,” he said.
“There’s a lot of bridges that probably need to be rebuilt, it’s been a tough time for the organisation off the field and no one likes to see an organisation dragged through this sort of process.”
Asked if the fulltime Brumbies CEO gig was something he’d consider, Thomson said it wasn’t something he was planning.
“Not at this stage,” he said.
“I have a role with the ARU at the moment that I’m happy with, but as of today I’m a Brumbies employee, I’m the interim CEO of the Brumbies, I report to the Brumbies board so that role at the ARU is on hold but the plan at this stage is to go back to that role.”
The conference leading Brumbies are back in action on Friday night against the Melbourne Rebels at 7:40pm AEST.
