Greg Growden
ARU run by 'Mosman rugby mafia'
ESPN Staff
October 29, 2014
Greg Growden discusses ongoing Kurtley Beale saga

Australian rugby is in its worst ever state and its all down to the appalling leadership of ARU chief Bill Pulver and chairman Michael Hawker, ESPN's Greg Growden says.

Growden joined 2GB's Alan Jones on Wednesday morning to discuss what has been a shambolic few weeks for Australian rugby following Kurtley Beale's in-flight incident with former ARU staffer Di Patston.

The Beale scandal has cast an ugly shadow over the game and Growden believes the saga highlights the poor performances of both Pulver and Hawker.

"It's terrible, as you say I've been doing this for 30 years and this is the worst state Australian rugby has been in," Growden told Jones. "It's stinks to high hell.

"The misleading statements made by people at the ARU who should know better is mindboggling and it just goes on and on and on. And the last few days where a number of journalists are trying to get answers out of them, Bill Pulver, as usual, disappears or blames someone else."

As for Hawker, Growden said he was known among the Wallabies as the "Invisible Man".

"It's interesting, you talk to the players and they describe him as rugby's version of Peter Brady - the Invisible Man," Growden said. "They call him M.I.A, missing in action."

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