KEY POINTS:
"Bluey" McClennan seems sure to go to coach Leeds, the unknown Paul Bergman out of Wellington firming as his favoured replacement.
McClennan has an offer to coach the English Super League club though no deal has yet been done.
"I want to coach the Kiwis at the World Cup," was all McClennan would say yesterday.
The Herald understands the coach told the NZRL of the approach from Leeds over a week ago and was granted approval to continue talks.
But since he was interviewed for the job in England there has been no comeback from the league, which is still to discuss with him his contract to the end of the World Cup in 2008.
Word has it the governing body will not back down on its requirement that the coach reside here.
It appears politics is rearing its ugly head. Some are keen to paint McClennan as league's Brad Butterworth should he go overseas for what will clearly be much more money than the NZRL pays him. The residency requirement, dubbed the "Gary Freeman rule" because it was introduced to exclude the former halfback-turned-coach rather than sack him after poor returns, now provides a convenient means to eject McClennan.
There is no clear front-runner as replacement among the ranks of Bartercard Cup or representative coaches - including Junior Kiwis coach Bergman who is apparently the beneficiary of back-door lobbying.
Heir-apparent would be Stephen Kearney, assistant coach at Melbourne when they made the 2006 grandfinal and now when they lead the NRL. Clearly, the bulk of the Kiwis team will come from the NRL's Australian clubs. So the residency rule is a nonsense. The wisest move would be to keep McClennan on as a director of coaching and elevate Kearney.
The Kiwis coach is answerable to the chairman of the NZRL or his nominee. The NZRL's appointment of former Kiwis coach Graham Lowe as director of football appears to put Lowe between board chairman Andrew Chalmers and McClennan. It is unclear if that will change the guidance of the national side. Lowe, long a thorn in the NZRL's side via his criticism in the media, is now an employee.
It's hard to see Lowe being able to keep his nose out of coaching or the current coach wanting his predecessor telling him what to do, though both he and McClennan yesterday denied any ill-feeling. Also, McClennan was not consulted about the NZRL's decision to put Aussie Wayne Bennett in charge of the All Golds in the game's centenary match in England this year.
Among concerns being expressed in league circles regarding Chalmers' governance of the NZRL:
* Expenditure, with lawyers and consultants fees said to have rocketed - no sign of income to match.
* Bartercard Cup players and coaches not consulted about changes to the elite competitions.
* The NZRL absorbing its critics so they can be controlled; freebies to games in Australia excused via meetings of dubious value, work that could be done by phone.
* Accountant Brian Mills' removal as board returning officer.
* Provincial districts that were in breach of NZRL requirements regarding financial reports, budgets and player numbers given voting rights, contrary to the league's constitution.
There is disquiet that moves aimed at reinvigorating league in the provinces will fail, cost money and result in an exodus of players to Australian, English and French second-tier clubs.
Chalmers' touting of a Wellington-based side in the English Super League, playing games in Singapore and other "halfway" points, is seen as pie-in-the-sky in league circles.
They want to know where the money is coming from - Chalmers says he has a billionaire Belgian backer who he refused to identify. The Herald understands he is John Porter, who owned a supermarket chain in England and now resides in Belgium.
District representatives have been called to a meeting next weekend where they will be informed about changes to the competition format. They will apparently be told that the Bartercard Cup is to be scrapped.
Then they get a seat at the Warriors-Dragons game.
Auckland clubs that opposed mergers to meet criteria to take part in the Bartercard Cup do not see the reintroduction of provincial football as the answer.
