FORMER Brumbies chief executive Rob Clarke is expected to be named today as the interim CEO for the Melbourne Rebels.
Clarke, who was to become chief operations officer for the Australian Rugby Union during the Gary Flowers era, joins the Rebels as the replacement for CEO Steve Boland who has resigned.
During his time at the Brumbies, Clarke was called on to make some dramatic calls, none more so than announcing that head coach David Nucifora would not be re-appointed.
The Brumbies were leading the competition at the time and went on to win the Super Rugby title – a victory attributed to player power.
Clarke takes over the Rebels at a time of major upheaval, with head coach Damien Hill told he will have to re-apply for his position, club patron and chairman Harold Mitchell set to withdraw and the Australian Rugby Union poised to mount a financial rescue mission, just as it did with the Waratahs in 2000 and the Reds in 2009.
Clarke, who is highly regarded as a sports administrator, also will be heavily involved in the process of preparing the Rebels’ star playmaker Kurtley Beale for a return to rugby.
Beale currently is serving an indefinite suspension to sort out his alcohol problems after being involved in an incident in South Africa recently when he punched Rebels team-mate Cooper Vuna.
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