NZ sport's 25 biggest power brokers

Martin Snedden. Photo / Mark Mitchel

Who will be pulling the strings in our sport in 2010? Who's the person you most want on your side in an administrative scrap? Below are the 25 most powerful figures in New Zealand sport. They all have one thing in common - influence.

Whether it is knocking on doors in Parliament, shelling out dollars, or influencing listeners and viewers, these are the people shaping sport in New Zealand.

There is no place for the likes of Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth, David Howman or Scott Dixon, who all wield influence in world sport, but very little here.

It is a list over whelmingly dominated by white men. This is not a bias on this reporter's part, but a significant imbalance that, perhaps, needs to be rectified.

1: Martin Snedden

World Cup boss

Age: 51

Former jobs: Lawyer, CEO NZ Cricket

Sporting background: Former international cricketer (25 tests and 93 ODIs)

Yes, 2011 is his year, but 2009 was not far off either and 2010 will not be a lot different.

When Snedden resigned in 2006 as chief executive of the second-highest profile sport in New Zealand he knew he wasn't moving to an easier life. As chief executive of Rugby NZ 2011, his is the very public face of the World Cup.

The success or failure of the tournament, in every aspect aside from what transpires on the field, rests on decisions he and his staff make.

So far they have done, by most people's reckoning, a good job. The allocation of host cities and even the potential timebomb of ticket pricing has gone down well, even if the latter required a spoonful of sugar.

This year, Snedden needs to put on his salesperson's hat. As the only revenue stream from the World Cup that will go to New Zealand, Snedden is acutely aware how monumental a task this is. It's why, when he knocks on the doors of Murray McCully and John Key this year, they will not turn him away.

Perhaps even Snedden, who would be the first to admit he is not the most charismatic of orators (Barack Obama he is not), is surprised by the fact that when he talks, everyone stops to listen.

2. Peter Miskimmin

Sparc

Far from a faceless bureaucrat, Miskimmin is the man peering serenely from behind the steering wheel of sport.

Miskimmin is chief executive of the organisation that ultimately determines the amount of taxpayer money that goes to each national sporting organisation. In the years leading up to Olympic Games, this moneybags role assumes greater importance, particularly for those "minor" sports that sit outside the targeted bracket and are scrapping for contestable funds.

While the focus of attention understandably falls upon high-performance sport (see No 12), it is but one component of Miskimmin's brief.

Perhaps more crucially, he is in charge of shaping policy initiatives that will provide a platform from which every young New Zealander can access sport and recreation. It's a big job, but someone's got to do it.

3. Kevin Cameron

Sky TV

If sport is dictated to by the great god of television, as many believe it is, then Kevin Cameron is its most important nabob.

You can argue the toss about whether Sky's hoovering up of most of the meaningful sports content in New Zealand has been a good or a bad thing (for the sports themselves it has unquestionably been a good thing), but the fact is that unless you're willing to shell out the fat part of $100 per month, there's not a lot for you to watch. Two local tennis tournaments, anyone?

Cameron is the man who chooses what is watched and when. He is also one half of power couple Kevin and Jan Cameron. Which might explain why the FINA world swim champs in Rome last year got such blanket coverage.

4. Barry Maister

NZOC

The upright figure of Maister looms large over New Zealand sport, even if he is not a natural in-front-of-camera guy.

Steeped in Olympism, Maister is secretary-general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, meaning he has final say over who and how many go to the Olympics under the flag of New Zealand, but he will also take up a position on the International Olympic Committee this year.

That puts him in a position to lobby directly for New Zealand interests. Just a shame he was too late to convince the IOC to reject cyclings' decision to leave the individual pursuit off the programme.

5. Rob Nichol

NZRPA

If anyone was wondering who was wearing the pants when it came to the direction of rugby in this country, the national provincial shenanigans should have left nobody in any doubt.

Steve Tew and the New Zealand rugby union wanted a 10-team premier competition that would kick in this year. They did not articulate that as a wish but as a fait accompli. Well into the process, a players' conference hosted by NZ Rugby Players' Association boss Nichol raised concerns about the six-team second tier that was meant to sit under the premier competition. Wouldn't a seven-seven split be more beneficial, it was posited.

Within a couple of months of those concerns being reported, the 10-team premier competition was kicked to touch and a seven-seven competition was announced from 2011 onwards.

Nichol was the prime mover in pushing this through with relatively little debate.

With a seat at the head of the International Rugby Players' Association also, there is little that goes on in the world of rugby that Nichol is unaware of.

6. Murray McCully

Politician

As one insider put it, the fact that sport's budget has remained relatively unscathed is due to "having the old war horse batting for you".

With Bill English promising to slash and burn budgets combined with an Oklahoma-like land grab from new ministers looking for their slice of pie, there was a real danger that sport could have lost a lot of government funding.

Not only did McCully hang on to the money sport had, but he initiated blunt and significant change. Mission On, a widely derided remnant of Labour's social engineering phase, was turned into Mission Off and instead money was pumped directly into the more user-friendly KiwiSport.

McCully is also a big driver behind high-performance infrastructure and facilities. Let's hope he has more joy on that front than Trevor Mallard did with his waterfront dream.

7. Jock Hobbs

NZRU

No other national sporting body - not even Sparc - comes close to having the sort of opprobrium and scorn heaped upon it as does the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Hobbs, a former All Black captain, is the acceptable face of the NZRU.

A renowned Mr Fix-it following the threat of rugby being split apart by the World Rugby Corporation, Hobbs remains the first port of call whenever there is a burning issue to be resolved.

A former lawyer, the measured Hobbs is often portrayed as a counterpoint to the more bullish chief executive Steve Tew. It is for that reason alone that his power and influence remains greater than the man his board has appointed to run the game.

8. Daniel Vettori

Cricket

The highest-placed athlete on our list, it might come as a surprise to outsiders that it is a cricketer rather than rugby player.

Vettori, though, has carved out a position unique in New Zealand sport. He is captain, selector, best bowler and best batsman in the sport that dominates our summer months.

He has also been surrogate coach.

His influence has never been stronger than right now as NZ Cricket determine how to structure the top-end of their coaching/management tree.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan has readily admitted the next big appointment has to be somebody that can work alongside Vettori, not the other way around.

Vettori sits alongside Brendon McCullum as the country's first million-dollar cricketers and has also gone a wee way to preventing kids getting hassled about wearing glasses.

9. Sir John Wells

Deal maker

In terms of his ability to shake hands and influence people, Sir John is peerless. He was part of the successful 2011 Rugby World Cup bid, is on the board of the 2010 Rowing world champs and is part of the feasibility team that will determine whether Auckland should bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

In many ways he is similar to Sir John Anderson, a behind-the-scenes mover who knows the right buttons to push and the right doors to knock on when things need to get done.

He is not, though, a trouble-shooter in the mould of Anderson. Rather, his strength is establishing relationships and maintaining contacts.

10. Daniel Carter

Rugby

He's not the coach, he's not even the captain, but nobody has a bigger role in reconnecting rugby to the public than Carter.

Ridiculously talented and, apparently, good looking in his gruts, Carter is the sort of player people buy tickets to watch.

He wields a bit of influence too - not many players can unilaterally call time-out on their contract to earn a few euros - but he needs to be used more.

The NZRU and NZRPA have this funny belief that the limelight needs to be shared. But when the fight for the discretionary dollar is at its peak, like about now, such idealist notions need to be dispensed with.

Carter is already the underpants of the sport; he now needs to be the face, the feet, the everything ...


11. Graham Henry

Rugby

Unlike Carter, if Henry was the face of the sport the game would be in dire straits. A fine coach, unquestionably, but it is hard to imagine Michaelangelo would have been in a rush to carve out his figure in stone.

Which brings me to Henry's assistant, Dunnyflusher Hansen. It was he who reminded the plebeians that "they haven't built any statues for critics or wannabes yet". They haven't made statues for failed World Cup coaches either, something Henry should be acutely aware of.

Last year was not a vintage one for the All Blacks, although the performance in Marseilles saved it from being a stinker.

Henry's influence has shrunk from this time four years ago, when he was close to convincing the NZRU to sign off on some damaging and deeply flawed campaign planning, but this country's Sunday morning well-being is still tied to the national rugby team in winter and Henry is still the director of the operation.

12. Marty Toomey

Sparc

Yes, he is a government employee and, yes, he does answer to Miskimmin, but Toomey's is the face you need to get in front of if you want cash for your sport.

There is some suggestion he is known by some in the halls of Sparc as Mr $42 Million Man (the amount of taxpayer money allocated for high-performance sport), but knowing Toomey's modest disposition, he would probably find that more embarrassing than ego-boosting.

With a cheery smile and diminutive stature Toomey is easy to underestimate, but if you're the head of a national sporting organisation and you don't perform well in front of him, and your numbers don't stack up well on his right-hand man James Gibson's performance matrices, you're probably not going to walk away with a Who Wants to be a Millionaire-sized cheque in your satchel.

13. Ricki Herbert

Soccer

For one year only. Unless he performs a miracle on the veld, Herbert's influence will melt like a snowball in the sun, but for the next few months at least his campaign will have a large portion of the country in a thrall.

The Phoenix's decent run of late has also raised his stocks, although you can rightly ask how much power and influence he truly wields when he was told by club boss Terry Serepisos he couldn't have time off to attend the World Cup draw in Durban.

Nevertheless, this year will see soccer dominate sports pages for the first time since 1981-82 and Herbert's is the voice we will hear the most often.

14 =. Justin Vaughan

NZ Cricket/

Heath Mills

NZCPA

There is not a sporting environment on the planet that is changing as quickly as cricket.

With the advent of ultra-lucrative franchise-based Twenty20 leagues, the needs of the national bodies are often in conflict with the wants of the players.

That is why, over the next 12 months and probably beyond, the chief executive of NZC and the general manager of the NZ Cricket Players' Association are inextricably linked.

Over the next six months they will be negotiating a collective agreement that will determine the contracting environment for professional cricketers.

That will be no easy task given the fact our best players - the Dan Vettori, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullums of the world - could make a good deal more money were they not wedded to an NZC contract.

Good luck working your way through that one, boys.

16. Richie McCaw

Rugby

He's the All Black captain and that privilege carries an inherent mana, but that carries you only so far.

Some people - think Wilson Whineray, think Wayne Shelford - appear to be born into the role, but McCaw was not one of those. For the first couple of years of his reign he might have been the best flanker in the world but he was not a great captain.

One of the theories behind Graham Henry recalling Reuben Thorne after previously appearing immune to his charms, was that McCaw needed someone to lean on (in the figurative sense).

Really, it was only last year, when the All Blacks were at a low ebb, that McCaw emerged as an outstanding leader.

He will not sell as much merchandise as Carter and he won't have the same command over soundbites as Henry, but he will be the man 14 other men in black will look to for inspiration when the going inevitably gets tough this year.

17. Sir Patrick Hogan

Racing

In some respects Sir Patrick is the New Zealand racing industry.

His Cambridge stud is still the benchmark in the breeding industry but Hogan's influence spreads into all facets of thoroughbred racing.

One source said the entire landscape of New Zealand racing would look markedly different, and much the poorer, were it not for Hogan's influence.

Hogan's financial largesse is believed to extend to other sports as well, including rugby, but he has never confirmed that.

18. Warren Alcock

Lawyer / agent

Described by someone who would know as the most influential rugby agent / manager in the country. David Jones, who has Graham Henry, Carlos Spencer and Ali Williams as clients, comes close but Alcock is the important cog in the New Zealand wheel of Essentially Group, a global agency that counts Daniel Carter, Richie McCaw and Daniel Vettori in its stable.

With a background in law, Alcock is regarded as one of the kings of getting bespoke contracts to fit his clients.

19. Valerie Vili

Athletics

This placing is based more on potential than reality, but that could and should change.

Vili is well known for throwing a weight around but up until now has seldom used her status to throw her weight around.

This year she has some big plans. Unless injury bedevils her, you would be silly to back against her bagging a world indoor championship and a Commonwealth Games gold, while the newly created IAAF Diamond League will also tickle her fancy.

Vili is a phenomenon with an ever-increasing public confidence. Athletics New Zealand does not have the means (and possibly the wherewithal) to use this resource effectively, but that is no excuse for the Government and the NZOC.

If you're serious about tapping into the vast potential in the Pacific Island and Maori communities, Vili is the sort of person you have to get in front of the kids' faces.

20. Steve Tew

NZRU

In other years the chief executive of the body that administers the country's national sport would rank a lot higher than this but 2010 will be a year of rugby rebuilding its prestige and Tew licking the wounds inflicted upon him by provincial unions during the NPC debacle.

Tew is a redoubtable administrator. Those who know him well often point out that the media-driven image of him as a bruiser short on tact is unfair - that in fact he has one of the more unenviable tasks in the country - he answers to a board which faces pressure from 26 unions of varying power who have disparate interests - and by and large he does it well.

Still, Tew admitted himself: "I am the public face of this organisation. When things go well, I'm the public face. If things don't go well, I'm the public face. That's my job."

Last year things didn't go that well.

21. Stephen Kearney

League

It's not so much that he is the coach of the world champion Kiwis, although that still has a lovely ring to it. It's more the fact he is poised to join a selecrt club of New Zealand-born coach of an Australian NRL team after Graham Lowe. At the least you would presume he is a shoo-in to replace Craig Bellamy should he leave the Melbourne Storm.

What would be really interesting would be to see what the Kapiti Coaster would do should Wayne Scurrah, the Warriors chief executive, wave a head coach contract under his nose.

At just 38 years old, Kearney has stacked a lot into his years - he is the definition of a lifetime leaguie, as a child covering his bedroom walls with posters from Rugby League Week - and is already an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

It is not too much to suggest that, for the foreseeable future, where Kearney goes, New Zealand league goes.

22. Mike Stanley

NZOC

President of the NZOC, on the board of the Academy of Sport North Island, Millennium Institute chief executive, board of governance for the 2010 world rowing champs at Karapiro, former Olympic rower - Mike Stanley's sporting administration CV needs no embellishment.

When we return to this list in five years' time, expect Stanley to figure somewhere near the top.

23. Raelene Castle

Netball NZ

It seems wrong that the big cheese in arguably New Zealand's second biggest sport comes in with 22 others in front of her but the truth is that netball likes to keep itself to itself, to its benefit and detriment. The sport's burghers go to extraordinary lengths to paint a picture of peace, love and happiness, which strangely enough can be counter-productive when it comes to getting widespread coverage.

Netball will always be tremendously popular with young girls but at the high-performance end the sport is going through a period of transition. There is still some debate whether the move to a transtasman league has negated New Zealand's only competitive advantage over Australia, which was a strong, professional, franchise-based National Bank Cup.

The Fastnet World Series in Manchester last year might not have provided an answer to the future but it did raise this question: If netball was such a compelling spectacle, why did some feel the urge to implement such radical rule changes?

Does Castle hold the answer?

24. Peter Dale

NZCT

As chairman of New Zealand Community Trust, Dale is in large part responsible for the purse-strings of New Zealand's biggest funder of amateur sport.

NZCT gives out millions of dollars in grants to thousands of applicants from a huge range of sporting groups across a huge range of sports.

Dale, who has a sports administration background with high-profile roles at the Hillary Commission and New Zealand Golf, heads a board whose trustees include well-known sporting figures Alan Isaac (himself a strong contender for this list), Ian Wells and Lesley Murdoch.

25. Murray Deaker

Broadcaster

He no longer sets the agenda (or even necessarily follows it), but Deaks still harvests eardrums on a Sunday afternoon. As Radio Sport continues to drift aimlessly in a sea of self-satisfaction, Deaker is a welcome constant in the world of sports radio.

He has a talking heads television show, Deaker on Sport, on Sky, but perhaps his biggest coup was the genius promotional hype that turned what could have been interpreted as an overtaken-by-events interview with a certain golfer last year into an almost voyeuristic let's-all-watch-Tiger-fibbing blockbuster.

He would probably not admit as much, but with a rejuvenated Martin Devlin having designs on the weekend radio market through his Radio Live show, being thrust back into national prominence was not the worst thing that could have happened to Deaker.