were looking for in 2000 when I joined them as Membership and Direct Marketing Manager. That was my entry into sports, and 18 years later I'm still in an industry that I feel very lucky to work in.
From the outside looking in, sports can seem much more glamorous than it is in reality. It’s hard work and long hours, but it’s also a wonderful and very rewarding industry to work in.
I love the sports industry and because we've developed such strong friendships in this industry, there's such great people, and the network, and they're just loving friends.
How did you go from your position at the Sydney Swans being the membership and marketing manager, to the head of marketing for Rugby World Cup 2003? That is a significant career move!
This was an opportunity to take a step from a big club in a national competition to a major event on a global scale. Rugby World Cup was still a relatively new tournament.
It was first held in 1987 at a time when the game was still amateur. Rugby didn't turn professional until after the 1995 World Cup.
The 2003 tournament was really the first time that the tournament was run commercially and operationally like an Olympic Games or FIFA World Cup. It also took place just three years after the Sydney Olympics, which delivered a great legacy to Australia in terms of building the country’s capabilities and skills in hosting major events.
It was also my first experience working on a major event, but the timelines were ridiculously short. I joined the Rugby World Cup in July 2003 as Head of Marketing, just 15 months out from the tournament taking place. In that short timeframe we sold 2 million tickets accounting for $200m in revenue.
The only source of revenue for the local organizing committee was ticket sales. World Rugby being the owner of the tournament retains all of the other commercial revenues such as broadcast, sponsorship, hospitality, licensing, et cetera to reinvest in the game globally.
The key learning from that experience, and having worked on a major event for the first time, was really the importance of planning, and that a successful major event is really delivered in the planning stages. If you get the planning right, you're well placed to be able to deal with the inevitable issues that arise during the tournament itself.
The key learning from that experience, and having worked on a major event for the first time, was really the importance of planning, and that a successful major event is really delivered in the planning stages. If you get the planning right, you're well placed to be able to deal with the inevitable issues that arise during the tournament itself."
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