Sharks CEO Sid Sutton has hailed the return of Jason Robinson OBE to the club as ‘a perfect storm’ after the former England and British and Irish Lions star re-joined the club as a non-exec director.
Sid said the appointment of the 46-year-old, who brought down the curtain on a glittering career at Sharks 14 years ago, marks the start of a ‘new era’ at the club.
He said: “I’ve been in the role for four months now and this is the perfect opportunity to press the reset button and present our clear vision for the club. It’s important that we understand who we are, what we’re about and where we want to go.
“The culture we’re trying to create is incredibly important to us. Alex Sanderson has come in as Director of Rugby and added to that and helped us push it on to a new level. And now we’re so excited to welcome Jason back to take it on again. This is a new era at Sale Sharks.
“Jason and I started speaking two months ago. I looked at it and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t involved with the club. I wanted us to celebrate the past and the learn from the experience of someone who is arguably the most famous player the club has ever had.
“So I reached out to Jason to try and explain what we were trying to do and as soon as we started talking we hit it off. I told him what we were trying to do and very quickly we found that our values are completely aligned.
“Jason shares our passion for creating change. We’re all about developing people, we’re all about care and we’re all about ensuring that we do the right thing.
“Jason is perfectly aligned to that. He’s going to be a non-exec director to ensure two things.
“First, we want to celebrate and learn from the club’s past achievements. But we also want to move the club forward. He’s all about the community, he’s all about giving back and he’s all about helping and developing people. If we do that correctly then I think we’ve got a real story to tell.
“It’s a perfect storm.
“I make no apologies for repeating myself on this. We are developing a new culture here and part of that is all about learning and growing.
“We care. And that is authentic. We genuinely care for our communities and we genuinely care for the game of rugby. If what we’re doing impacts the lives of two or three young people who have never been exposed to rugby, then that’s fantastic.
“I don’t want this to be labelled as just equality, diversity and inclusion. It’s care for all. It doesn’t matter what background you come from, rugby can be for everyone and it can really impact lives far beyond what happens on the pitch.
“I’m really passionate about getting that message out there. It can change people’s lives and there is no better person to tell that story than Jason because rugby did change his life.
“It’s clear to see how passionate Jason is about coming back. The culture we are creating is all about getting the best out of people. Jason has bags of experience on that front.
“We’re passionate and determined to build a club that our supporters, and the whole of the North, can be proud of.”
