The Crusaders Transformation: Benchmarking Sports Management

By Imago Group - Liz Herbert
Thursday 22 September, 2005

SYDNEY - Since the advent of Super 12 in 1996, when rugby union made an abrupt transformation from an amateur game to a professional sport, the Canterbury Crusaders reached seven of the ten grand finals and have won the Super 12 championship five times.

This phenomenal feat, which positions the Crusaders as arguably the most successful professional sport franchise in Australia and New Zealand in the last decade, has been academically dissected in a new case study authored by Senior Lecturer, Dr Russell Hoye, and Lecturer Sonia Francis, both from La Trobe University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.

Discussing the conclusions of the study, produced exclusively for Sport Knowledge Australia (SKA), Hoye points to a strong set of values as being among the key elements of Canterbury’s success. Says Hoye, “What stood out for me was the ability of the Crusaders to successfully transfer the positive elements of the Canterbury rugby culture developed over 120 years - selflessness, humility and modesty - into the environment of a professional sports team where it would be easy to ignore such values.

“By doing this, the Crusaders were able to avoid creating the usual distinction between an on-field team culture of elitism versus the culture of the support staff and wider organisation.”

Co-author, Sonia Francis, said that the study looked closely at the impact of leadership: “In preparing the case study, the focus was to understand the story of how The Crusaders’ franchise evolved over a period of five years and what part leadership played,” said Francis.

“Initially it looks at CEO Steve Tew. He came into the organisation as an agent of change; to effect change from amateur to professional. We started to look at his leadership style and how he took the organisation through the process of change and the empowerment of individuals to lead the organisation to success. It very much shows transformational leadership.

“There were people in the organisation who did things in a set way – Canterbury had been amateur for over 100 years and run that way - and Tew had to get people to embrace new and different ways.”

he Canterbury Crusaders case study will be revealed for the first time to top level sports administrators attending Sport Knowledge Australia’s inaugural six-day residential Executive Sport Management course starting on 16 October.

The elite group of managers will also gain access to another unique case study, especially commissioned for the course, which analyses the spectacular achievements of Country Racing Victoria. Dr Russell Hoye of La Trobe University, who is involved in ongoing research into racing reform, produced the study with Dr Matthew Nicholson of Victoria University with the support of CRV CEO, Mark O’Sullivan.

In it, the authors reveal how, in an environment where race tracks in other states have faced closure through lack of viability, Country Racing Victoria has flourished - each year coordinating 412 race meetings which attract around 600,000 spectators while contributing $478 million in off course wagering.

Since its launch in June this year, SKA has run seminars in China on sport venue management and in Australia on player valuation strategies.

ABOUT SKA: SKA launched in June 2005 with a Federal Government grant of $8.6 million. The University of Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority jointly own SKA. SKA delivers executive level education and knowledge-sharing on sports management, coaching and science via educational programs, commissioned studies and research within Australia and through partnership programs overseas. SKA will assist the continued global growth of the sports industry, helping more communities around the world to benefit from Australia’s strong sporting culture.