Wanganui vs Taranaki in the 2018 Ranfurly Shield challenge. Union chairman Jeff Phillips says it would bankrupt WRFU to try and join Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup competition.
Wanganui vs Taranaki in the 2018 Ranfurly Shield challenge. Union chairman Jeff Phillips says it would bankrupt WRFU to try and join Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup competition.
A hypothetical chance to join the professional Mitre 10 Cup competition through promotion-relegation from the amateur Heartland Championship would bankrupt the Wanganui Rugby Football Union, says its board chairman.
Jeff Phillips said discussions with a group of the WRFU's life members may in order after four of them, led by former chairman Brian Vaughan, publicly released a mission statement proposing changes to the infrastructure of the national game to protect provincial unions while addressing the rapid decline of male player numbers.
"The NZRFU, our parent body, have to accommodate and implement a change to the political climate to sustain the co-called amateur code here in New Zealand," said the report from Vaughan, Dan Anderson, Mike Donaghue and Dick Hearn.
"The Heartland players need a competition to balance their abilities and a further pathway to compete at a higher level that will grow their personal skills and their playing abilities."
Among the proposed changes are local rugby clubs having priority for players up to age of 18 rather than secondary schools, a promotion-relegation between the Mitre 10 Cup and Heartland competitions, second and third tier test nations being encouraged to tour the country and play Heartland provincial teams, and the Ranfurly Shield being defended both in home and away games so it is on the line every week.
"They put the letter out as the report on secondary school [rugby] was being released. It acknowledges it's a massive problem."
Mike Donaghue, left, and Brian Vaughan are among a group of WRFU life members who want to change the national game.
On Tuesday, the NZ Rugby released an independent review into secondary school rugby, as the 1st XV competitions between schools in the metropolitan areas have become the main development tier for future professional players.
NZ Rugby announced the development of new guidelines on more "ethical and inclusive policies" for player recruitment in college rugby after the report was damning of 1st XV rugby and the recruitment practices of some powerful schools.
The report, which noted the number of boys playing was declining at an alarming rate, was commissioned last June and completed before the national spotlight on rich schools draining talent from other regions was revealed when ten Auckland schools were going to boycott games against St Kentigern College.
NZRU is looking to appoint a Secondary Schools manager as they attempt to stamp more authority on the school scene with added governance and rules.
Locally, Phillips said the WRFU have had discussions with the local schools about their rugby teams.
"It's a shame the life members, and this was possibly an oversight on our part, that we didn't invite them to participate.
"Putting [players] back to the clubs is not workable at this point in time.
"If you look at a school like Collegiate, half of their team are boarders. Go back to the clubs and half of them won't have games.
"The 1st XV's are not going to give that up without a fight."
Securing the future of club rugby could possible be found in employment schemes, a practice several clubs do informally themselves but perhaps could become a WRFU-governed process.
Phillips' major major point of contention with the life members plan is the prospect of the Steelform Wanganui rugby team – six time Meads Cup champions in 13 seasons of the Heartland Championship – playing promotion-relegation with the Mitre 10 Cup wooden-spooner for the right to go up to the professional level.
"Promotion-relegation, at this stage, would bankrupt Wanganui rugby," Phillips said.
"We meet a lot of requirements for Mitre 10 Cup level, but I don't think any board members are going to commit to that.
"I probably wouldn't hang around."
Phillips said it currently costs around $1.8m alone to have the team in the Heartland Championship.
Furthermore, professional players contracted to the big unions would never want to stay if their defeated union has to join the Heartland Championship even for a season, which would create issues with the NZ Rugby Players Association who represent them.
"It wouldn't keep people in Whanganui," said Phillips.
"Yes, there are guys here that would be good enough to play for a cup union, but you would need more imports, and Wanganui doesn't like getting imports unless necessary."
Currently, when players leave here to take up a professional contract, like 2015-Meads Cup winner Stephen Perofeta moving to Taranaki and then joining the Blues in Super Rugby, the WRFU receives a "development levy fee" – a kickback where the money is reinvested in development programmes.
"Indirectly, a player leaving can help the local game," said Phillips.
WRFU, under the auspices of chief executive Bridget Belsham, who took up the role after a career in banking, have practiced very careful fiscal responsibility, announcing a $50,000 profit at their 2018 AGM.
That followed a record surplus of $107,000 in 2017, in what was a massive turnaround from the $128,000 deficit under an old office regime in 2014 and a $36,000 loss in a 14-month 2015-16 period.
These numbers would be dwarfed by the requirements of fully professional rugby.
Regarding overseas teams touring the country and playing the Heartland unions, Phillips said all 12 unions had already had to financially contribute just to keep their own national side – the NZ Heartland XV – in existence or else NZ Rugby might let it go.
The national body was not in a position to help supplement developing test nations to tour here, covering their accommodation, food and travel.
"Someone's got to pay for them to come here, and NZ Rugby is looking at a deficit for the next two years.
"There was that Australian [Barbarians] team a few years ago.
"They [now] can't afford to send a team, and that's just Australia. These teams have to come from the other side of the world."
Stephen Perofeta in action for the NZ Heartland XV against the Australian Barbarians in 2015.
"It's not like it was back in the 1970's.
"It's a good idea to get teams touring, but I don't know how you slip it into the Heartland winter. There's no byes in the competition."
NZ Rugby had approached WRFU about the prospect of joining the-then ITM Cup back in 2012 after the Otago union revealed publicly that they were $2.35 million in debt and expected to exceed $3m that season.
Both then chairman Dave Hoskin and CEO Dale Cobb said the union simply couldn't afford the costs, with players salaries estimated to be around the $1m mark, along with the wages required for a sizeable management staff to support them.
The same reason was used two years before that when both Wanganui and Mid Canterbury explored the possibility of moving up.
