YES, IT'S BROKE INSISTS TEW
Steve Tew could be forgiven for feeling a bit like rugby's version of the grim reaper this year.
The New Zealand Rugby Union's decision to remodel its National Provincial Championship by culling four teams from the 14-team competition has become about as popular as a stubbed toe in recent weeks.
Close games, big crowds in the provinces, higher TV ratings and a general return to the good old days.
So, why not follow the age-old adage, if it ain't broke?
Tew argues that's exactly where the case against a revamp falls over. The NPC is broke, and badly, when you examine its financial state.
The losses in recent years make dire reading â€" $3.7 million in 2007, $3 million in 2008 and a projection of $2.7 million this year.
"That's a 10 million hit over four years ... on the asset reserves of the collective provincial unions and it's not sustainable," Tew said. "What we are signalling is that too much money is spent on too many players. In the end the revenue being driven from this competition sends you the best piece of customer research you can get."
OK, but how did you decide on a 10-team premier division?
The provinces and the Players' Association agreed on six principles and they included a round-robin that finishes by October. Super rugby finishes in July, so there were only 11 to 12 weeks to to fit in the NPC.
So, if everyone agreed, why is there so much dissent now?
"We all agree on the characteristics, but not everyone agrees with how they pan out. If you talk to the biggest unions they would probably want a six to eight teams.
"If you talk to the group in the middle, it depends where they sit. You talk to the guys in danger of being put in Division 1 and clearly they would prefer a 14-team comp. "You can never get a totally unanimous structure because there are simply there are too many self interests."
Why not just rein in spending by slashing the $2 million salary cap? Tew says unions could have been doing that all along, but treated the cap as a target rather than a cap with many living beyond their means.
So there are too many fulltime professional players?
"We can't sustain five professional Super rugby teams and then another 10 to 14 professional teams.
"The ANZC has to be a blend of players who are fully professional and those who get paid enough to have a real crack to aspire to professionalism.
"With the All Blacks out you have the remainder of the 140 professional players playing in it and the rest get paid enough that they can have a decent go to fulfil their aspirations to be a professional player the following year."
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Have you already decided which four teams will be demoted?
"No."
So are some teams genuinely playing for their place in the top division?
"You could say that because there is still room for unions to move up or down [the rankings] ... there has certainly been a shuffling of ranks as we've signed off the player registrations for the year.
"They aren't just playing for it, they have also been working for it ... It could do [come down to where they finish], but it could also come down to the financial criteria."
Are you going to cut Manawatu simply because there are too many teams in the Hurricanes franchise?
"There is absolutely no sense to that comment, nor are there any facts behind it."
Won't the promoted Heartland teams get thrashed in Division 1?
"There is a challenge in that regard and work to be done and we may have to help, but people also said that about the teams that came up to the current first division.
"People who were making those comments wouldn't have imagined Tasman beating Auckland and Bay of Plenty beating Wellington."
Will you get a TV deal for Division 1 and will fans still follow it?
"We are talking to the broadcasters about how we treat Division 1 and working damn hard to make sure it gets meaningful coverage ... We hope supporters who have stuck with their unions over the last couple of years will stick with them so they can win this competition and get back up."
Will rugby die in the four demoted unions?
"Rugby didn't die in those regions when they were in Division 2 ..."
Won't top players just immediately leave the four demoted teams?
"We'd like a system where players are not financially disadvantaged for playing their rugby wherever they are, provided their union is raising enough money to pay the bills."
'DONT WRITE MANAWATU OFF'
The axe is hovering over Manawatu. Chief executive John Knowles expalins how he plans to dodge the blade.
Q: Why should Manawatu be retained in the NPC?
A: The smaller provinces relate to it. It has been a really good competition this year and it has taken three years to bed down. To come this far and have it all whipped away would be a disaster. We don't want to be a feeder union.
Q: Is the Save the Turbos campaign working?
A: Manawatu Rugby is not part of the campaign that's trying to save the 14-team competition. We're going around all the local businesses and knocking on every door and saying if you want to keep the Turbos competitive we have to be solvent. The whole Turbos team has just been out and they've done the whole CBD. The Turbos are bloody economically important to the region.
Q: Your finances rated you ninth of 14 teams last year, where do you believe you sit at present?
A: We were sitting ninth and we had a $454,00 hole. Don't write us off. Everybody in New Zealand has made comments about Manawatu being one of the four that's gone. Sure, we were 14th in the competition last year, that makes it difficult but there are a number of unions with problems. Steve Tew said there were seven unions that won't break even this year. If we can get our house in order then we might be okay.
Q: The NZRU carries out a solvency test on October 31. What are you hoping to achieve before then?
A: Give it a last ditch effort. We've made a lot of advances this year. We've pulled in our expenditure big time and by improving our gates we've got a lot of money coming through. One thing in our favour is we haven't gone to the NZRU for long-term loans whereas a number of the other unions have done that.
Q: How do you rate your chances of staying in the NPC?
A: We only know what the media puts out, saying Manawatu, Counties, Northland and Tasman are gone. You'd have to assume that is correct but then where does Bay of Plenty sit? They've had three loans from the NZRU over the last three years. You'd have to say that we aren't that favourable, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to work that out because of results on the field and we've got a small population. But I still think it will come down to finances.
Q: The NZRU says all the provinces accepted the need for a 10-team NPC. Is this true?
A: When the chairmen and CEOs met in April they came up with a set of principles around which a competition should be built. To a large extent the big fellas [unions] drove that. Then we were told we've only got a 12-week window which was put in by Steve Tew. That brought it to a point where it was just about game, set, match. But there's an argument that why do you have to play against every team? There's a lot of people saying why don't you play this in two lots of seven and have a playoff at the end?
Q: What will your players do if Manawatu are demoted?
A: We only have 14 players contracted [for next year] and I'm not contracting anybody at the moment. Certainly we have to reduce player payments, regardless of what competition we're in.
Q: Would a six-team first division competition be relevant?
A: No. Playing five teams home and away, that's not a viable competition and you're not playing the big fellas and that's really sad. If you're Josh Bradnock or Aaron Cruden, you're not going to keep those players because they want to test themselves.
Q: Are you working together with other at-risk provinces?
A: There's good dialogue going on and we're having a chat next week. A lot of provinces have similar needs and the community recognises that. They don't have the same opportunity to relate to the Super 14 that the metropolitan areas do. It's a pity that they're chopping this into two competitions and I don't agree with it. It has been a bloody struggle for me. Knocking on doors is not my style but you have to do these things. We need to give this every shot.
THE FACTS AND FIGURES
What? The NZRU propose to cut four teams from the current NPC to create a new 12-week, two division competition with automatic promotion-relegation next year.
Why? The current 14-team NPC loses too much money, costs too much to run and is deemed unsustainable after years of collective losses.
The proof: 2006 - $460,000 profit after (driven by a one-off payment in 2005 from the British Irish Lions tour and big foreign exchange gains) - 2007 - $3.7 million loss - 2008 - $3 million loss - 2009 - $2.7 million projected loss
Who asked for change? The provinces asked the NZRU for change and agreed on six guiding principals. - no overlap with Super rugby - professional players, other than All Blacks to be available - a full round-robin - a semi and a final - promotion-relegation - was finished by the end of October.
Why are they fighting it then? Provinces agreed to the principles, but some, especially those in line to be in Division 1, believe that can be achieved within a 14-team format. Some are convinced they will not recover financially and will lose their top players if demoted next season.
Who will get cut? No decision's been made, but Counties-Manukau, Tasman, Northland and Manawatu are thought to be the most vulnerable. Two teams will come up from the Heartland Championships to create a six-team Division 1.
What's the criteria? Finance, on-field performance, player registrations, player development, population base. When's the decision? Second week of December.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport...NPC-need-fixing
From this mornings Dom Post. A good piece on the issue, I would say.
