Raelene Castle has become New Zealand's top sports administrator after a tough spell as chief of Rugby Australia.
Castle, 49, who takes over as head of Sport New Zealand, has been chief executive at Netball NZ and at the Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league team in Sydney.
But she is best known for a tumultuous spell with Rugby Australia, which included a costly legal battle after the sacking of star full-back Israel Folau for homophobic comments. There was also the demise of a TV deal and the Wallabies' slide down the world rankings.
New Zealander Castle quit in April after Rugby Australia laid off most of their staff due to Covid-19.
Castle's new role includes distributing NZ$265 million (HK$1.36 billion) for sports recovery.
