Josephine Sukkar - Building Rugby
We talk with Josephine Sukkar, Principal of Buildcorp about Rugby Australia’s incredible opportunity to redefine our approach to the sport and meet the challenges of modern rugby. Tied to this is the need to build greater inclusivity into the game, especially increasing women’s participation. A member of the Order of Australia, Buildcorp principle, and president of Australian Women’s Rugby, Josephine is an important rugby sponsor who has been integral in advocating for women’s rugby. We start our conversation by chatting about what sparked her passion for rugby and her company’s involvement in the sport. Josephine talks about witnessing the change in visibility for women’s games and the power that sevens rugby and the Super W competition has had in popularising women’s rugby. After opening up about why she pulled her sponsorship from the National Rugby Championship in 2017, we dive into her experience of sitting on the 2015 Rugby Australia nomination board. As Josephine explains, poor participation from key stakeholders led to false perceptions about the transparency of Rugby Australia’s nomination process. This leads to a discussion about the negative effects of having a divided rugby community. Josephine then reflects on the state of Australian rugby and how our federation system needs to adapt to ensure better sponsorship and to field more competitive teams — on both a national and international level. Near the end of the episode, we touch on the importance of Australia’s 2027 World Cup bid in providing vision for Rugby Australia. Tune in to hear more of Josephine’s insider-perspectives on Australian rugby.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Hear about how Josephine developed her passion for rugby.
- Josephine’s journey sponsoring rugby starting in 1992, and why she likes giving to club rugby.
- The heightened importance of team or player behaviour in affecting sponsorship.
- Being on the front-lines of making women’s rugby more visible.
- The importance of women’s sevens rugby in the Olympics for popularising the sport.
- Using sponsorship to nurture aspects of the game that are underdeveloped.
- Why Buildcorp pulled their sponsorship from the NRC in 2017.
- Josephine shares her perspective on the Rugby Australia nomination process.
- False perceptions around the transparency of the Rugby Australia nomination process.
- Highlighting the need for workable solutions and not behaviour that destroys the game.
- Thoughts on Rugby Australia’s evolution, governing body, and structure.
- Why now is the time to have hard conversations and reimagine union rugby.
- How ‘corporate courage’ and supporting leadership will allow rugby to survive.
- Rebuilding trust in Rugby Australia through their new chair and CEO.
- Why the 2027 World Cup bid is providing vision for Australian rugby.
- The work of the Buildcorp Foundation in giving back to the community.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
