Mark Dodson has talked a good game since his earliest months as Scottish Rugby’s chief executive, and he was true to form yesterday as he discussed his decision - “entirely my own” - to quit the post after a dozen dizzying years.
That £10.5million loss in the SRU’s last set of accounts? “The business is performing really, really well.”
The withering away of the club game and the lack of talent coming through from under-20 level? “I think the foundations are in good shape.”
The failure by the Scotland Men’s team to reach the knockout stages at the last two Rugby World Cups? “I’ve had great faith in Gregor [Townsend] since I appointed him coach.”
There have been times during his tenure, particularly when he took the floor to address an annual general meeting, when it felt like if you listened to Dodson long enough and without thinking too hard, you would end up believing every word he said. The art of persuasion has always been one of his strong points, and since he took up office back in 2011 he has spent a long time trying to persuade us that everything is rosy in Scottish Rugby’s garden.
At times, indeed, some elements within the sport have been flourishing. But at other times, especially over the past two years or so, it has become obvious that other aspects have started to fester. And the blame for that has increasingly been laid at Dodson’s door.
If there is one thing that turned the tide of public opinion against the bluff Mancunian, it was the governing body’s disgraceful reaction, led if not dictated by Dodson, to the death of Siobhan Cattigan. A serving international passed away in tragic circumstances, and the chief executive of the sporting organisation she had represented was unable to display even a modicum of empathy. In fact, worse than his inability to show some human decency, Dodson went on to display an indecent self-regard as he refused, time after time, to admit he might, just might, have got anything wrong in his behaviour.
In that, as in so many other ways, Dodson knew he had the backing of John Jeffrey, the former international who, as Scottish Rugby chairman up until May 2022, was a close and powerful ally. Between them, the pair were able to wield a lot of influence over some other board members, so when Jeffrey left to take up a new post as World Rugby’s vice-chairman, Dodson’s power was diminished.
It has continued to wane since John McGuigan’s advent as chairman of the governing body. Calm, tactful and diplomatic he may be, but McGuigan also has a forensic intellect; one which appears altogether immune to Dodson’s bluster and braggadocio.
On an individual, private level, it should be said, Dodson can be a good laugh. Unlike so many people who are happy to be blunt in their assessment of others, he can take the criticism as well as dishing it out. The electability of politicians is often assessed by the question “Would I enjoy going for a pint with them?”, and the answer in Dodson’s case is yes, you would.
So he is not all bad as a person - far from it. And it would be a gross simplification to say he has been all bad as a chief executive over the 13 years and counting since he took up office.
But he will leave Scottish Rugby in a parlous state at so many levels. And, given that and the obscenely inflated remuneration he received, the bottom line on Mark Dodson’s time in office is surely that he enriched himself while impoverishing the sport.
