Just over three months after South Sydney ended a 43-year premiership famine, the NRL club finds itself with a new chief executive, new part-owner, new captain and two fewer Burgess brothers on the wage bill.
Less than 24 hours after Greg Inglis replaced John Sutton as Rabbitohs skipper, Shane Richardson ended his 10-year reign as CEO to join the NRL as the code’s new head of game strategy and development.
Richardson has been replaced by former CEO of Casino and Resorts Australasia John Lee, who’ll formally start his new role on February 9.
His departure comes on the same day Luke Burgess followed younger sibling Sam out the door at Redfern after being granted a release to join Manly – a move brokered by recently-departed Souths financial chief Joe Kelly, who is now the Sea Eagles’ CEO.
Kelly’s exit came hot on the heels of Peter Holmes a Court selling his 37.5 per cent ownership of the club to billionaire casino mogul James Packer last October.
Lee is a former acolyte of the legendary Jack Gibson who he worked under at Cronulla during the mid-80s as head trainer before going on to work as a schoolteacher while coaching Parramatta’s lower grades.
He left coaching and teaching to move into the business world but was appointed to Australian Sports Commission.
This led to him being approached by the North Queensland board as the Cowboys’ Sydney representative in 2012, tasked with creating better lines of communication with the NRL after the infamous seventh-tackle drama.
“I met with the (Souths) board for the last time last Friday, it’s been a month-long process and I am delighted and honoured to be given the chance to follow Shane,” Lee told AAP.
“It’s not a change-around role as a CEO it’s about adapting to what’s there and making it better.
“We’ve already had one Everest but this is about twin peaks and making it multiple climbs to the top.”
Gibson famously said about club officials: “It all starts in the front office,” and Lee insisted he’ll follow the original supercoach’s words to the letter when he takes over.
“Jack had a big impact on me, I went to school with his kids and was once his son Luke’s boss. Jack shaped my life,” he said.
“He made me realise as an 18-year-old that personal responsibility is everything. He lives with me every day.”
Richardson failed to hide his emotions as he brought the curtain on a tumultuous decade in charge of the famous old club.
His reign included the hotly-disputed vote by members to allow Russell Crowe and Holmes a Court to gain control, moving home games to Sydney Olympic Park, and of course taking the club from wooden spoon in 2006 to the 2014 premiership.
“It was certainly more of a challenge than I thought it would be but it was never about me being popular, it was what was best,” he said.
“I thought it would take five years of my life and six or seven kilos but it’s taken 10-and-a-half years and 20 kilos.”
Richardson’s last day at the club is January 30 when he’ll take leave owed to him in the US, starting with a trip to the Super Bowl in Arizona where he’ll meet up with NFL officials then begin work at the NRL on March 2.
