RUGBY - NRU plan job, pay cuts as big loss tipped

NORTHLAND Rugby Union chief executive Rob Malone is repeating dire warnings for the future of the provincial game, with his union braced for the worst financial loss in their 87-year history.
NRU chairman Wayne Peters said earlier that the union expected a $350,000 loss this year, but sources close to the union are saying the budget blow-out may be more, with some indicating the final figure may even be $700,000.
That is forcing NRU chief executive Malone to plan some drastic budget measures, including laying off staff and cutting player wage bills to try to get the union back in the black in time for a crucial New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) review next year.
Malone said the NRU had already withdrawn travel subsidies for club rugby and announced drastic budget restrictions for age-group representative teams next season, saving more than $200,000.
Staff are on tenterhooks with job losses imminent.
But, while Malone was confident the NRU could patch up their accounts, he said the repair job needed to fix the provincial game as a whole loomed even larger. Other provincial rugby chief executives shared those concerns.
Rugby bosses from Southland, Bay of Plenty, Tasman and Taranaki had all expressed concerns about the state of the provincial game and their financial viability. Even the Auckland and Canterbury unions took financial hits this year.
Ongoing issues with the way the NZRU administered the game were causing huge inequities, Malone said, and the impending provincial competitions review had left the game in limbo.
"When you have got to cut your cloth you have to identify where to make cuts. It's a difficult situation but it's difficult everywhere. We are not Robinson Crusoe in this position; Tasman, Counties, Southland and Bay of Plenty are in the same boat.
"We have got to cut around four to five hundred (thousand) from both budgets (player and administration)."
The issue now was not just about balancing the books. Several unions were being forced to contemplate their future, especially if current NZRU administration models continued. By 2009 there would be a new provincial competition but until the review was finished mid-2008, nobody knew what form it would take.
"Right now, if you were buying a business would you buy a rugby union? Mate, you would not touch it because it is not affordable to be in the area you're in. As a businessman, you would get out. So do we (Northland) stay with the formula ones or do we go back to the go-karts?" Malone said.
"Come 2009, we (Northland) might get told we are not in (the premier division), and that is a NZRU decision, out of our hands. Then again - and I am not suggesting Northland - some unions might choose not to participate and elect to roll out a community rugby plan, instead. Our aspirational goal is not to do that, but if something does not give...
"You can't just isolate the Air NZ Cup, you have got to look at the Super 14 franchise model, the Super 14 distribution calculation and the way that provincial unions are supported by their franchises.
"As it stands I would suggest that a large percentage of New Zealand players will be overseas by the end of '09, and that will affect the ability of the All Blacks to win, so it's not all about the Air NZ Cup, it's much more than that."