Stirling Austin Mortlock AM (Treasurer)

Stirling Mortlock AM was first elected to the Board of The Rugby Club on 8 September 2015. As chairman of the Board’s Investment Committee Stirling was integrally involved in formulating and implementing The Rugby Club Foundation’s investment strategy and in recruiting and engaging the Foundation’s current investment manager.

Stirling was appointed as Treasurer of The Rugby Club Foundation on 19 February 2018.

Stirling holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Sydney University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from Kaplan.

Stirling is currently a founding partner of Unio Advisors, a boutique financial advisory business. Unio Advisors is an independent external asset manager based in Australia with a diverse client base covering High Net-worth’s and Family Offices.

Prior to being in the boutique wealth space Stirling was employed with the National Australia Bank as Senior Manager, Client Relationships Corporate Superannuation. This entailed leading an experienced team of Relationship Managers who were providing the bank’s corporate and institutional clients with market leading wealth solutions. Prior to that position Stirling acted as a Wealth Director in Global Institutional Banking at National Australia Bank, a role which entailed connecting institutional clients with corporate wealth solutions. Specifically Corporate Superannuation, Group Insurance and Asset consultancy solutions as well as Employee benefits solutions including Private Wealth, J B Were and retail bank.

Stirling has twice held board positions at the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) from 2003 to 2005 and 2010 to 2012. Stirling was a Board Member for the Melbourne Rebels during 2014 to 2015 until ownership of the franchise was transferred to a private consortium. Stirling is a co-patron of the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation and is also the patron of the Gordon Rugby Foundation.

Stirling pursued an illustrious Rugby playing career. He is a former Wallaby captain who secured 80 Wallaby caps, 29 of them as captain. He also earned 138 Super Rugby caps and scored in excess of 1000 Super Rugby points. He captained the Brumbies and Rebels in Super Rugby and captained the Gordon Premiership winning U19 team.

Stirling is a Rugby Life member of The Rugby Club Foundation.

Adam Leigh Freier

Adam Freier was first elected to the Board of The Rugby Club on 8 September 2015.

Having worked and played for over 20 years in professional Rugby, Adam has a unique skill set that allows his views to represent many of levels of the sport.

Adam’s professional Rugby began in Canberra at the Brumbies in 2000, making his state debut against Queensland. He then returned to his home state of New South Wales for the Waratahs in 2003, where he spent eight seasons, one as captain.

In 2010, he moved to Melbourne to join the Rebels for two seasons retiring from professional Rugby in 2012 with a total of 105 Super Rugby Caps. Adam continues to play Club Rugby and in the NRC.

Adam debuted for the Wallabies in 2002 against Argentina, playing a total of 25 tests, and participating in two Rugby World Cup campaigns in Australia (2003) and France (2007).

During his time in Rugby, Adam was President of the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) and was a regular media contributor and sports commentator with the ABC and Fairfax. In late 2012 when he moved in sports administration, Adam was appointed General Manager – Media and Communications at the Melbourne Rebels.

In January 2015 Adam was appointed as the Senior Communications Director with the Australian Rugby Union (now known as Rugby Australia), before becoming Head of Digital and Wallabies Media that same year, leading content for the Wallabies at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

Adam is a Rugby Life member of The Rugby Club Foundation, working across many boards and foundations in sports, including the Randwick Rugby Club, Classic Wallabies and SpinalCure Australia.

Adam is currently the General Manager of Marketing and Digital at Rugby Australia.

James Vernon Maxwell

James Maxwell was first elected to the Board of The Rugby Club on 8 September 2015.

James has been a member of The Rugby Club since he turned 18 on 1 October 1988.  For more than half his life he was a regular attendee at The Rugby Club’s dining room and bar and at all functions including major functions.  He was therefore very familiar with the Club’s traditions and the facilities and services available to its members and patrons.

James is a Solicitor, Trade Mark Attorney and Notary Public.  He owns, operates and manages two businesses, namely, Maxwell IP, Intellectual Property Lawyers and Peter Maxwell & Associates, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.  Peter Maxwell & Associates has been in existence for more than 30 years.  He has also been involved in other businesses over the years.  Both of his firms are very involved in rugby union as they act for New South Wales Rugby Union Limited, South African Rugby Union and other rugby union bodies.  They have previously acted for the Australian Rugby Union Limited.

James was elected as president of Manly Roos Junior Rugby Union Club in November 2017 and is actively involved in the day-to-day operations and management of this club. He was elected to the Board of the Manly Junior Rugby Union in December 2017.

In light of these appointments, James has strong links with the game at grassroots level and a great insight into the issues faced by junior rugby clubs throughout the state.

James has been involved with Rugby and has been a supporter of the game since he first began playing at the age of five in 1975.

James is a foundation life member of the New South Wales Rugby Union and also a member of the Australian Turf Club and the Victoria Racing Club.

Paula Frances Ward

Paula Ward was appointed to the Board of The Rugby Club on 20 March 2017.

Paula possesses the valued combination of business and sports administration experience with a proven track record of successfully transforming businesses grappling with a significant change agenda.

A registered psychologist and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Paula is the General Manager, Governance & Business for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Previously, Paula has led two National Sporting Organisations. In 2014, Paula became the inaugural Chief Executive Officer for the Judo Federation of Australia. She was then Chief Executive of Equestrian Australia from January 2016 until June 2018 during which time the Australian Eventing Team won the Bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio.

Prior to this, demonstrating her ability to bring entrepreneurial ideas to life, Paula founded the niche consultancy, Know The Game, in 2010. Paula achieved triple digit year on year revenue growth and introduced more than 3000 people to Australian sport as a mechanism for inclusion and social cohesion. A significant portion of her business revolved around rugby. It is this connection that introduced her to The Rugby Club.

Before immersing herself in the sporting sector, Paula held HR executive roles with Goldman Sachs JBWere, PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers and Atlassian.

Paula has previously served two terms on the Board of The Rugby Club, from April 2013 to August 2015, fulfilling roles on the Finance Committee, Marketing & Operations Committee and Rugby Club Foundation, as well as being a founding member of the Sydney Rugby Business Network Organising Committee.

Other non-executive roles Paula has previously undertaken include appointments to the Cricket Australia Multicultural Reference Group, NSW Equal Employment Opportunity Practitioners’ Association, Australian Womensport & Recreation Association (now Women Sport Australia) and the Federal Government’s Horse Industry Consultative Committee.

Paula was a member of the Weary Dunlop Club in Victoria for over a decade and a Foundation Member of the Melbourne Rebels. She has previously held memberships with Cricket Coaches Australia, NSW Yachting and the Australian Davis Cup Tennis Foundation. She is a current member of Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club and has been since 2003. Although now based in Sydney, Paula continues the long wait for admission to the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Stuart James Dickinson

Stuart Dickinson was first elected to the Board of The Rugby Club on 8 September 2015. He currently chairs the Board’s Membership & Rugby Relations Committee.

Stuart is Australia’s most capped Test and Super Rugby Referee having officiated in 47 Test Matches and 98 Super Rugby Matches as well as being the only Australian Referee to be selected at three Rugby World Cups. He was a member of the IRB (now World Rugby) merit based referee panel from 1996 – 2011 and his refereeing career straddled the amateur and professional era prior to his retirement in December 2011. He has officiated at the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups, 1997 Sevens World Cup, the Commonwealth Games in 1998 (Kuala Lumpur) and 2002 (Manchester, where he refereed the 7’s Final), 6 Nations, Lions Tour matches and Test Matches, Tri Nations, RWC Qualifiers, Super Rugby and Club Rugby.

Stuart is the recipient of the NSW Police Commissioners' Medal of Valour for disarming an armed offender who attempted to shoot him. The communication, management and leadership skills used in policing have been present throughout his life and helped him become one of the world’s leading rugby referees. Whilst refereeing he completed a Masters of International Sports Management through Southern Cross University’s MBA programme and returned to part-time work as part of his transition strategy from Rugby.

Stuart is currently the Co-Founder and Managing Director at Australian Consulting Network (ACN). ACN is an Australian based consulting organisation focussed on supporting businesses to generate a breakthrough in human and organisational performance. ACN has extensive global experience at supporting alignment and executing organisational transformation programmes. These range from Major Capital Oil and Gas projects, Construction, Mining, Manufacturing, Logistics and also serve the SME, NFP, Aged Care and NDIS sectors.

Stuart continues his service to Rugby through refereeing coaching at Sydney West Rugby Referees Association where has been the Patron for over 12 years.

Stuart is a Rugby Life member of The Rugby Club Foundation.

Owen Finegan

Owen Finegan was appointed to the Board of The Rugby Club Foundation on 16 October 2017.

Widely respected within the community generally and recognised as being a highly intelligent and dynamic individual, Owen possesses a broad range of experience, skills and qualifications. His qualifications include a Masters in Education (Coach Education) from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Business (International Business & Finance) from Southern Cross University and a Graduate Diploma in Project Management from Northumbria University. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Owen pursued an outstanding Rugby career, representing the Wallabies and the ACT Brumbies with distinction for over a decade. He was a foundation member and a key performer for the ACT Brumbies from their inception in 1996, playing in 93 Super Rugby matches and captaining them to their 2004 triumph. He made his international debut against Wales in 1996 and went on to win 56 caps. He was an integral part of the Wallabies’ success over the following decade and was named in the Wallaby team of the first professional decade in 2005 and was Australia's player of the year in 2001.

The undoubted highlight of Owen's career came in 1999 when he scored an injury time try as Australia won The Rugby World Cup. In 2008 Owen retired from professional sport and returned to the ACT Brumbies where he spent three years coaching professionally in Canberra with the Brumbies and as a consultant to the Samoan Rugby Union.

Owen then ventured into the world of “not for profit” and for four years was the CEO of Snowy Hydro Southcare, the rescue helicopter service for the ACT and Southern NSW.

Owen is currently the CEO of The Kids’ Cancer Project which supports bold scientific research to achieve its vision of 100% survival of children with cancer while eradicating the harmful impacts of treatment. The organisation which Owen leads is a national leader in childhood cancer research funding the most promising research projects being undertaken across Australia.

Owen’s passion for the game of Rugby continues off the field where he coaches junior, premiership and representative Rugby and is a former director of the Sydney Junior Rugby Union.

Owen is a Rugby Life member of The Rugby Club Foundation.

Robert Bradley AM

Rob Bradley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Confederation of Australian Sport (CAS) an organisation dedicated to promoting the importance of community sport and advocating the contribution sport makes to Australia from health, social and economic perspectives.

Rob’s sports management and community development background in Australian sport and active recreation includes over 30 years’ experience working at the national level. Rob was manager of the Australian Rugby Union’s Rugby Division during 1988-96 where he was responsible for the coaching and officiating streams and developed the modified forms of the game into the Australian Junior Rugby Pathway and fostered rugby for girls and women including establishing the Wallaroos in 1992.

Rob has experience in the charitable sector having been CEO of the Royal Life Saving Society Australia for 16 years prior to joining CAS in 2013. Rob was awarded the Grand Knight in the Order of Lifesaving in 2012 for services to lifesaving having been Vice President of the International Life Saving Federation from 2000-2012. Rob also served as a Director of the Australian Amusement Leisure and Recreation Association (AALARA) for ten years from 2003.

In June 2018 Rob was made a Member of the Order of Australia “for significant service to sport through management and community development, and as an advocate for health and water safety initiatives.”

As a Rugby tragic Rob would have loved to reach the playing level of fellow Board members but sadly, due to a lack of genuine talent and ability, only reached the level of First Grade hooker for Wollongong Teachers in the early 80’s and Northern Suburbs, Canberra in the following years. Rob continued his passion for rugby as an assistant coach of his son’s junior rugby teams Clovelly Eagles and Broulee Dolphins during more recent seasons.