New Sport New Zealand boss Raelene Castle opens up on her Aust 'battle scars'

Raelene Castle expects to cop criticism in her new role - and accepts not everyone thinks her recent CV makes for pretty reading.

The 49-year-old Kiwi administrator was on Wednesday named the new CEO of Sport New Zealand, replacing Peter Miskimmin after 12 years at the helm. Miskimmin announced his departure in August.

Castle will take over just eight months after a messy break-up with Rugby Australia, leaving after she was told she no longer had the support of the RA board.

Her time in charge of the troubled organisation was marred by former Wallaby star Israel Folau's series of homophobic social media posts and the failure to secure a broadcasting deal.

She was, according to then-RA chairman Paul McLean, subjected to sustained bullying from "faceless people" while in the job. Australian sports commentators were split on celebrating her demise and suggesting she was hung out to dry for the failings of others.

Castle told the Herald she learned plenty from the experience.

"The two things that were really important to me were building strong relationships within the sport - which we certainly did in an internal perspective, and deliver a broadcast deal that had free-to-air in it and it looks like at this stage, that's where they're heading with the new negotiations."

Castle was CEO of Netball New Zealand from 2007 to 2013 and CEO with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs from 2013-17 - the first woman to be CEO of an NRL club.

Following her departure, Bulldogs officials revealed that the club couldn't be active in the transfer market until 2021, because players were offered back-ended contracts while Des Hasler was the coach. Castle also attracted criticism for her role in the club's handling of the salary cap, along with Hasler and chairman Ray Dib, though said at the time she had a clear conscience.

Castle returns home with what she calls "more battle scars".

"I don't think I'm different, but I'm more experienced… and there's lots of positive experiences as well that have seen the opportunity to test things; does this work, does that work, how might you engage with a community to get better outcomes, how do you succeed on the world stage? It's helped my baseline be much stronger than when I left."

Raelene Castle has replaced Peter Miskimmin as chief executive of Sport NZ. Photo / Dean Purcell

Castle is open to changes within the Sport New Zealand landscape, particularly around the current funding model, which has, particularly in recent years, been heavily criticised and questioned over its fairness and weighting.

Castle believes in some ways, it's worked.

"We've won way more gold medals than countries far bigger in population and size than ours. So at that level, it's working, but is that the reality of what a modern world looks like when we've been through a Covid crisis? I don't know, so that's one of the conversations we'll have to have."

Another of those conversations which may need to be had is whether Sport NZ merges with High Performance Sport New Zealand to become an over-arching organisation.

"There's some great focus that Michael Scott [HPSNZ CEO] has done, and I'll be looking to work closely with him on the work he's done, as we go into a focus of Tokyo and trying to get an Olympics and Paralympics away. But there's always the opportunity to see if there's a way of doing things better."

Castle considered leaving sports administration altogether.

"I had some conversations on the go and would've happily returned to the commercial sector. But the draw of sport is too much, and not only is it rewarding, but it can affect a country and communities and I feel very passionately about that."

She has two clear goals in her new role. The first being participation around sport - something she says will happen, as long as it's fun.

"You've got make it enjoyable and accessible for families," she explains. "There's a lot of sports which are very easily accessible, whether it be through schools or clubs. There are ways of engaging with sport than just having the full kit and uniform, and we have to make sure we provide those opportunities."

Israel Folau was sacked by then Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle following a series of homophobic social media posts. Photo / Getty Images

The other focus is female participation, which is where being a strong-willed woman with experience in sport helps.

"The conversation of 'boys play this sport and girls play this one' is changing … but the drop-off is the biggest concern. Girls are saying at 13 they don't want to play anymore. Why is that? What can we do to keep them in sport? And if it's not sport, how do they keep fit and healthy?"

Castle can't help but laugh when asked how it's going to be not having to deal with angry Australian men on a regular basis but provides a diplomatic response.

"The greatest thing about sport, particularly when it's at a performance level, is it garners opinion. If it didn't garner opinion and we didn't sit around and watch it on the TV and have an opinion around a referee's decision or a player's performance, then it wouldn't be sport."

Castle will just be hoping that this time, the opinions aren't divided on her.