RUGBY - Spurned Taniwha flex their muscles

A hard-hitting Northland rugby submission is taking aim at New Zealand Rugby Union officials in the campaign to save the Taniwha from being cut from the professional rugby ranks.
The submission, sent to NZRU headquarters in Wellington on Friday, labels the recommendation to dump Northland "flawed" and says the decision would fly in the face of the NZRU's constitution.
It also alleges the NZRU's refusal to release assessment figures "has denied Northland natural justice".
The NRU is calling for the Air NZ Cup to remain unchanged until after the Super 14 review in 2010 and advocates midweek games and mini "tours" to become part of the Cup as a way of keeping the provincial competition window down to 14 weeks.
It has also provided a commercial plan to the NZRU underlining its financial sustainability.
But there may be a fight within the fight, as Northland rugby administrators are battling to ensure the entire report gets presented to the full NZRU board when they meet to vote on the issue on September 25 and 26.
Angered by what NRU officials call "irrelevant" assessments, the submission replies point by point to NZRU draft report findings, taking particular aim at "subjective" assessments on governance and "unbalanced" reviews of financial performance.
The NRU is piecing together a high-powered delegation to present its case in person.
In the report, the NRU maintains the recommendation to cut Northland "was based on a flawed process and reflects subjective judgements made to the detriment of NRU.
"Where objective material was considered, it was often irrelevant. The outcome of this ... is that the recommendation is clearly not in the best interests of New Zealand rugby.
"The recommendation was made to achieve a commercial rather than a rugby solution."
But it is not clear if the NRU will get the chance to address the full NZRU board, or if the whole submission will be handed to NZRU board members.
It is now in the hands of NZRU chief executive Steve Tew and senior staff members in Wellington, including professional rugby manager Neil Sorenson, who was one of the main authors of the report that recommended Northland be cut.
Of the 14 Air NZ Cup provinces, 10 have made submissions. The Crusaders Super 14 franchise have also made a submission saying they would be unfairly compromised by the demotion of Tasman.
Steve Tew said the "feedback would now be considered", but has not given any guarantee that the submissions would be handed to NZRU board members in full.
"... There are a range of decisions involved in this particular project and we will look forward to seeing what people think," Tew said.
NRU chairman Wayne Peters said the submission "presents a few facts of the matter" and hoped it "would enlighten a few misguided NZRU officials about the state of Northland rugby ...
"If they thought we were just going to lie down and accept this they were wrong - Northland belongs in the top division and we merely provided the evidence to show exactly that," Peters said.
The submission was signed by Peters, NRU deputy chair Andrew Golightly and chief executive Jim Smillie.
Another excerpt says: "We also have no idea how the subjective assessments concerning governance and administration and financial matters have been made.
"These assessments seem to bear no resemblance to our actual situation. Put plainly, they are wrong. We would prefer you to consider the strong platform for future performance that we have now created since we have made these positive changes."
" The full NRU submission is available online at www.taniwha.co.nz