EXCLUSIVE

A consortium headed by a former NSW and Australian Rugby Union board member allied with some business barons - all reputedly disgruntled with the direction of the game in NSW - is taking its first steps towards privatising the Waratahs by October.

The audacious plan follows ARU chief executive John O'Neill's edict in April that it was time for the private sector to invest in the nation's four Super 14 franchises. An insider said the consortium, headed by one-time NSWRU president Dilip Kumar, had begun to mobilise a financial takeover of the Waratahs.

Some of those involved are not steeped in rugby tradition. They instead boast strong business backgrounds and their selections only serve to highlight the bid is aimed at turning the Waratahs into a profitable business venture.

The consortium has made October its deadline, otherwise it will wait another 18 months.

"They are working hard to get it up and running," said a Sun-Herald source. "There is a feeling they haven't given themselves enough time to buy the Waratahs. If it doesn't get up by October they will engage in public consultation, analysing the business models of privately owned sporting teams in Europe and North America."

The source said the consortium was concerned by the inroads AFL and soccer were making into the junior ranks, and added "they are also angry that very little seems to have been done to promote the game in the western suburbs" .

"The private equity system has worked well in the US and Britain, and there is no reason it can't work here. Some people will point to the breakdown of the Sydney Kings as a negative, but the quality of people involved in the Waratahs takeover understand business and have financial clout."