Updated January 10, 2013 11:03:11
Bill Pulver, the father of 2011 hoax collar bomb victim Madeleine, has been announced as the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union.
Pulver, an experienced Sydney businessman and self-declared lover of rugby, succeeds John O'Neill, who stepped down in October.
ARU chairman Michael Hawker, a former high school rugby team mate of Pulver, said the new appointee meets all the needs of the job.
"We wanted someone with proven commercial success at CEO level, with international business experience and a love of rugby," Hawker said.
"The board also set priorities around good communication skills and an understanding of the world of sports marketing and media.
"Bill has all those attributes."
Hawker highlighted Pulver's roles in sports marketing and media research, as well as his involvement in junior rugby.
The 53-year-old began his business career with global marketing research team AC Nielsen. He held management roles with the group in Japan and London before spending six years in New York as president of the listed internet media and research company Net Ratings Inc.
NetRatings was bought out by global information and measurement company Nielsen in 2007, for a reported $US820 million, and combined with BuzzMetrics to form Nielsen Online.
It is believed Pulver's share options in NetRatings made him a multi-millionaire.
Since 2010 he has been chief executive of Appen Butler Hill, a linguistic technology solutions company, where he will finish up at the end of January.
Pulver became a nationally recognisable figure when his daughter had a fake collar bomb placed around her neck in August 2011.
In November of last year, Paul Douglas Peters was sentenced to 13 years and six months for the bomb hoax.
When questioned about the impact of that incident at the ARU press conference Pulver did not directly refer to the 2011 drama but said it did not discourage him from returning to the public eye in this high-profile role.
"I'm 53 years of age and I've finally decided what I want to do," Pulver said.
"I feel this is a civic duty, my love of rugby is so deep."
"I'm convinced rugby has an extraordinary future in Australia and I'm looking forward to being part of the team to make it a reality."
Pulver added that his family had no reservations about him taking on a public role in the wake of the collar bomb drama.
"They are probably at home watching, licking their lips at what lies ahead. Rugby is a subject we will be happy to talk about."
Pulver played with Hawker at Sydney's Shore school and went on to play the game for the University of New South Wales.
He had been an administrator and coach at Mosman junior rugby club in Sydney and his son Angus was a member of last year's Australian Schoolboys team.
The new ARU chief said he will take a consultative approach in his role but already has some firm goals in place.
Pulver said he wants to lead the ARU in some urgency in pursuit of world rugby's number one title.
New Zealand currently has that title with Australia ranked number three in the world.
Pulver backs his former Shore school mate Hawker in support of keeping Robbie Deans in the head coach role in 2013.
"Robbie will be coaching the Wallabies right through 2013," Pulver declared.
"And then at that point we will consider the coaching positions to take us to the Rugby World Cup in 2015."
Pulver also talked about the need to enhance the entertainment appeal of rugby in the Australian market.
In that respect he wants to lift the profile of Rugby Sevens and also boost women's rugby.
Tags: sport,
rugby-union,
sydney-2000,
australia First posted January 09, 2013 13:07:45
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