Revealed: New Zealand Rugby League CEO Alex Hayton expected to resign

Dejected Kiwis after Tonga score the match winning try during the Rugby League World Cup 2017 pool match. Photo / Photosport

Change is coming at the top of New Zealand Rugby League.

The Herald understands that NZRL CEO Alex Hayton is going to resign, and the NZRL board will soon have to begin their search for a successor.

A review into the Kiwis' World Cup campaign – where they crashed out at the quarter-final stage after a shock 4-2 defeat to Fiji in Wellington – was commissioned in the wake of the tournament.

That review, which was undertaken by former Netball New Zealand and Bulldogs CEO Ralene Castle, along with sports lawyer Tim Castle, took almost two months to complete.

The final findings were delivered to the NZRL board last Friday.

Hayton declined to comment when contacted by the Herald on Tuesday.

When contacted, NZRL chairman Reon Edwards denied that Hayton was about to step down.

"As far as I am aware, our CEO isn't leaving," said Edwards. "We are in the process of finalising the panel that will decide on the Kiwis coach going forward, and our CEO has been part of that."

Hayton was appointed NZRL CEO in June 2016, after being in the top job on our interim basis since January of that year, following the resignation of Phil Holden.

Alex Hayton is understood to be resigning as CEO of the NZRL. Photo /Photosport

It was the culmination of a long period of service for Hayton, who joined the NZRL in 2007 as chief financial officer.

"I'm passionate about rugby league," he said at the time of his appointment. "This is definitely a role that I've aspired to and I'm grateful to now have that opportunity."

However, once Hayton ascended to the top job, he had a tough time.

He didn't inherit an organisation in particularly good shape, as Holden himself had struggled in the role, and some things were beyond his control, particularly with the sudden resignation of Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney to take the Warriors role in September 2016.

Kearney's exit, just a few weeks before a test with the Kangaroos in Perth and just over a month before the Kiwis were due to depart for the Northern Hemisphere for the Four Nations tournament, was a hammer blow.

There was a paucity of contenders, though Hayton was confident to give assistant coach David Kidwell a contract through to the end of the World Cup.

In hindsight, that was a questionable decision, when, given KIdwell's inexperience, a deal to the end of the Four Nations may have been more pragmatic.

NZRL CEO Alex Hayton, Kiwis coach David Kidwell and Kiwis selector Tawera Nikau during a Rugby League World Cup press conference last year. Photo / Photosport

Hayton had to deal with a review at the end of that campaign – where the Kiwis were smashed in the final by the Kangaroos amid allegations of off field problems – though the results were never made public.

Undoubtedly the low point of Hayton's tenure was the aftermath of the Anzac test in Canberra last year, when Kiwis captain Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor were caught with cocaine outside a nightclub.

It was something that no CEO can possibly plan for or anticipate, but was yet another blow to the image of the NZRL.

Hayton also put his faith in Kidwell for the World Cup – and went along with some of the coaches' unusual ideas – like the appointment of Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson as campaign manager.

Hayton also copped flak for failing to make the most of the commercial opportunities around the tournament in New Zealand, though much of that failing fell on the shoulders of former NZRL commercial manager Phillipa Ivory, who resigned after the tournament.

Hayton - along with Edwards - have also bet big on the upcoming Denver test with England, signing a three year deal to play in North America.

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