There are growing concerns surrounding the future of Rugby Australia's (RA) Kiwi chief executive Raelene Castle, with reports suggesting her days as boss are numbered.
Castle's failure to secure a new TV broadcast deal before the coronavirus pandemic hit and evasiveness around RA's finances has seen her allies around the boardroom table vanish.
The Australian reports Castle's days are numbered, with one of their sources declaring the next 48 hours could prove crucial for the rugby boss.
"People are amazed she has hung on this long, everyone knows it has to come to an end soon," one source told the paper.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, RA has stood down 75 percent of its workforce for three months, while Castle is taking a 50 percent pay cut.
Because of the pandemic, the game is staring a $120m in lost revenue just this year.
But RA is also getting criticised for its arguably unjustified self-praise during Monday's annual general meeting, where it announced a 72 percent performance rating for 2019.
That is despite all the drama around Australian rugby, which included a lacklustre Rugby World Cup performance from the Wallabies, the Israel Folau saga, drastically low attendance numbers and several high-profile players abandoning the Super Rugby competition.
Wallabies great Phil Kearns has been mentioned as a possible replacement, although when contacted by The Australian, he said no approach had been made - but he would be interested if the role was vacant.
Castle pipped Kearns for the position when she took on the role in January 2018. She has previously worked as the chief executive at the Canterbury Bulldogs NRL side and New Zealand Netball.
Castle's father is Bruce, is a former New Zealand Kiwis captain, while her mother Merlene represented New Zealand four times at the Commonwealth Games in lawn bowls.
