Steve Tew 'surprised' if Australian police imply All Blacks are suspects

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew says he would be surprised if Australian police were implying that a listening device found in the All Blacks' hotel in Sydney could have been planted by All Blacks personnel.

In what some might see as a bizarre twist in this story, New South Wales police have not ruled out the possibility that a listening device found in the All Blacks hotel in Sydney last month could have come from within the New Zealand camp.

"I have seen the story," Tew told media gathered at a New Zealand Rugby press conference in Wellington to announce the retirement of Sir Gordon Tietjens.

Tew said he had been surprised to read new details of the inquiry and did not know when its completion was likely.

"The police are going to do their job, and we certainly respect that. I'm surprised to read anything about this until the inquiry is finished, but I guess that's what happens.

"Obviously we'd be very surprised if there was any implication that we'd done it ourselves, but we'll let the New South Wales Police go through their job.

"I haven't heard from them [the police] for a while actually. They may be talking to Darren [All Blacks manager Darren Shand] but I haven't heard anything."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning police were still exploring every avenue and said they will treat every possibility, no matter how far-fetched it may sound, seriously.

"We've got to look at all avenues regardless of our personal opinions," a police source told SMH.

"Given the attention the investigation requires, it can be a criminal offence, so if it got to that then absolutely we'd be looking at criminally pursuing it. It's just going to be really difficult to get to that point I'd say, that's the issue."

Since the New Zealand Herald broke the story last month, allegations have been flung from both the All Blacks and Wallabies camp.

There was also speculation that the device may have been put there by a gambling syndicate in order to obtain inside information from an All Blacks team meeting.

The device was initially thought to have been of high quality, however new information revealed by police suggest it is not as sophisticated as first thought.

The device had a small battery and short life span, with police now investigating where it was purchased as well as analysing what it is made of.

The All Blacks didn't help their cause when they took five days to report the device to NSW police.

Coach Steve Hansen said the reason the NZRU didn't go to police immediately was because the process needed to be thoroughly gone through with CEO Steve Tew who was over at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

While Hansen could understand why a delay in coming forward could have hampered the investigation, police say it has made little difference a fortnight or so on from when they were initially told.

According to Australian federal law: "Generally, it is an offence to knowingly install, use or cause to be used, or maintain a listening device to record a private conversation, whether or not the person is a party to that private conversation."