Transcript
DAMIAN MCGRATH: I received a call one Thursday evening, about 9:30pm. I was watching TV and the CEO called to say the board meeting has just finished and we decided to readvertise your role. Obviously I asked why and he said "I will tell you tomorrow" so I went into work the next day, I was given a letter that simply said, "your contract has been terminated with immediate effect". I asked the CEO for a reason and he said, "oh it's not for me to tell you. It's a board decision so it's a board matter. From that moment I'm still awaiting any official confirmation. All I know is what I read regularly in the press where they're making statements about different things.
VINNIE WYLIE: So you haven't had a conversation with any members of the board and of course the Chairman is the Prime Minister?
DM: No one's been in touch from that moment on - you can't do that, can you, in modern employment law, which is why I handed the matter over to a solicitor in New Zealand, who felt we had a case for redress. I've kept my counsel since then but obviously the SRU, through the CEO and also quite recently through the Prime Minister, have constantly made comments in the press and it got to a point last week where the Prime Minister made a detailed statement which sullied my reputation. In any walk of life your reputation is what you live by - I felt it got to a point where I needed to make some kind of statement in reply so consequently I put out a release over the weekend.
VW: You say in your statement that qualifying for the Rio Olympics was never a condition of your contract?
DM: That's right. The only time that is mentioned in my contract is I was given a bonus structure to work towards. I would have received a financial bonus for different things and it is one line where it says "qualification for Rio I would receive 'X' as a bonus if that happened" but nowhere is it stated as a Key Performance Indicator or a major objective. I certainly wouldn't have taken the job on that if that had been the case because with only ten months to try and do something, going into an organisation with no strategic plan to try and make that happen, very little in the way of resources - it was always going to be a tall order at best so we came agonisingly close but at no time was that a major objective of the job.
VW: If you reflect on those 12 months in charge what is the thing you're proudest of and what is your biggest regret?
DM: Well the biggest regret obviously is not getting to the Olympics in Rio - that would have been a fantastic end to a great year. We came so agonisingly close. I'm very proud of where we started and where we got to. As positive as all the comments have been now, at the end of my year in charge, to begin with it was difficult and people were questioning lots of things. We had to keep our nerve and the players worked hard and improved and obviously it culminated in that great win in Paris but I'm very proud of the improvements we made throughout the year.
VW: Do you have an inkling as to why they decided to sack you?
DM: I've only heard rumours and hearsay and I wouldn't go down the Samoan Rugby Union route, which is to put those things out there. Unless I've got the facts I wouldn't say it so I have an idea in my own mind why it happened but that's for them to come out and say in the end.
VW: What do people on the street say to you because you have had a lot of support from the public throughout the past year?
DM: It's a very humbling experience. Everyone has been so supportive and feel that I've been hard done to. It's been embarrassing to a degree that people have said so many nice things and been so positive about my short tenure in the job. I love Samoa and I love the Samoan people and it's going to be very hard to leave because we've made some great friends here and just loved living the life here and I'd desperately love Samoa to be successful so, whilst I'm looking forward to going to Canada - want to get there - it's going to be very hard for my wife and I to pack up and leave what's been a fantastic experience.
VW: You had to look out for a new job as a result of losing the first one. You applied for the Fiji job and obviously you applied for the Canadian job. You've got the Canadian one - how many did you apply for in all - there seems to be every second sevens job is up for grabs at the moment?
DM: Well those were the two that jumped out at me - Canada's got such huge potential and obviously Fiji is close by and without any argument they're the leading team...I was so delighted and excited to get the Canada job because it's a big project with a lot of work to do with enormous potential and that's something that really appeals to me.