WC CFO TheStrategicCFO#44 Online NZ Final - Flipbook - Page 1
Graham Maher – QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE
look at the easiest way of doing things,”
Graham says.
After Pinnacle, roles with a property
group and an energy start-up followed
before his first leap into a CFO role
with workforce provider WorkPac.
However, a management restructure
meant that his role soon became
redundant. Then, with impeccable
timing, the QRL job bounced up.
Three years since signing on the dotted
line, his enthusiasm for the job is
unabated. In fact, he says: “I don’t see
what I do as a job because I’m in a role
where my work has a community focus
as well.”
“The big sports in Australia – rugby
league, AFL, rugby union – all these
codes have the ability to influence society
because kids aspire to careers in sport,
and they look up to sports stars.
If you take a stance on community
concerns, it brings benefits.”
Graham fits the mould of the modern
CFO, adapting to the changing world of
business. The pace at which the digital
era has affected sport is little short of
phenomenal, from waving your onscreen barcode through the turnstiles to
live streaming matches on your phone.
How Graham came to end up working
in rugby league was a slight surprise
to himself.
“If you go back 10 years, people didn’t
have the capability on smartphones to
deliver what gets delivered now,” he says.
“Now I can be out at dinner with the
phone next to me watching the Broncos
versus the Cowboys live.
“It’s a funny one – I grew up playing a lot
of sport and I’d had a long affinity with
various sports, but sports administration
was something I never considered as a
career,” he says.
Born in Brisbane, Graham grew up in
Cairns and, finding he had a natural
aptitude for maths, a commerce
degree was a logical progression.
From that he found his way to
PricewaterhouseCoopers and, after
almost five years, left to work for
former client Pinnacle Investment
Management Group.
“I didn’t necessarily want to be a partner
in an accounting firm, and I didn’t want
to be an auditor for a career. I found I
really like working with clients to solve
problems and help them grow their
business,” he says.
But those skills gleaned in the world
of the Big Four firms still stand him in
good stead. “You run into people who
have come across from PwC, or KPMG,
and you have a way of working in
common: you’re taught to ask questions
– not take everything on face value – and
“The speed at which info is delivered is just
multiplied – but with that, you’ve got to be
careful of disengaging from the fans who
are watching the game at a stadium.”
Social media is now a must-have for
large organisations and while the
benefits of fan engagement are obvious,
the commercial rewards haven’t always
been as clear. But as Graham points
out: “We’re at that tipping point now
where there will be tangible financial
and non-financial benefits.”
The Queensland Rugby League has six
staff members delivering content for its
digital channels, and those efforts give
the QRL impressive reach.
He says: “We actively look to be a seller to
partners – we reach over a million people
across our social (Instagram, Facebook and
Twitter) and media (website) platforms.
If you’re an advertiser Queensland Rugby
League can capture people’s attention –
we’ve got that medium and we’ve got
that cut-through.
The opportunity we’ve
got to monetise that
reach is huge, but it
takes awareness of
knowing what people
want, not what we
think we should be
offering.
”
Such high-tech fan engagement is
nevertheless built on solid foundations.
Away from the giddy heights of State of
Origin blockbusters, the QRL’s mandate
is to develop the game state-wide, and
in such a huge territory that can only be
done by getting out to the community.
A team of 80 staff work to grow the
game, stretching from Thursday Island
down to the Tweed River, while QRL
has several corporate partners – for
instance BHP supports female and
Indigenous programs. “I think the fact
we’ve got people all across the state is
crucial to our success,” Graham says.
When it comes to creating a healthy
culture, Graham says there is no
substitute for building solid networks
inside and outside the organisation.
“Relationships are absolutely vital,
particularly in sport,” he says.
Being able to rely on
relationships is vital
to the business, and
sharing information and
working collaboratively
is key.
”
“We’ve spent a lot of time in our business
making sure people are aligned and the
culture is aligned.”
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