TO: NZRL Staff, Districts and Affiliates and Board FROM: Cushla Dawson
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TO: NZRL Staff, Districts and Affiliates and Board FROM: Cushla Dawson DATE: 23 February 2009 RE: Media Summary Tuesday 17 February to Monday 23 February 2009 Hewitt now heads Taranaki Rugby League Academy: A man who survived three days in the sea off the Kapiti Coast is warming to a new challenge. Waatea News reports Rob Hewitt has taken over the reins of the Taranaki Rugby League Academy. The former navy diver says sport is a way to get students thinking about their futures and to learn how to be successful on and off the field. However, he says, he was nervous at the start and "wanted out" two weeks ago. But now he's settled in. Hewitt will also continue his work as an ambassador for Water Safety New Zealand. Source: Radio New Zealand, 23 February 2009 Mannering keeps captain ambitions private: SIMON Mannering is refusing to buy into suggestions linking him to the future captaincy of the Warriors. Mannering's decision as revealed in last week's Sunday News to re-sign with the club despite the likelihood of making more money overseas, has prompted speculation that the loyal utility is a "captain in the making". His leadership potential is clear with Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney just last week heaping praise on him. Where did all the NZRL's money go?: Like any gambler, rugby league played the pokies, and at first, they got a few decent payouts. Encouraged, they hit the button one more time, and lost the lot. The unholy pairing of pubs and poker machines is the big reason rugby league found itself in such deep trouble that Sparc thumped in and demanded last week's damning Anderson Report, which called those sordid dealings a "sorry chapter" in the game's history, and declared: "This matter should now be regarded as a lesson learnt, and the sport should move on." Bennett tipped to return as Kangaroos coach after leaving Kiwis: WAYNE BENNETT'S odds of taking over as Kangaroos coach have been slashed after he stepped down yesterday from his role with New Zealand. Bennett, the mastermind behind the Kiwis' World Cup triumph, quit as assistant to coach Stephen Kearney. Former international Tony Iro was named as his replacement. Iro to replace Bennett as Kiwis assistant: Former New Zealand international Tony Iro was on Saturday confirmed as the Kiwis' new assistant coach after Stephen Kearney's World Cup coaching partner Wayne Bennett announced his unavailability. Former Australian coach Bennett (59) worked alongside Kearney as a coaching and management adviser throughout 2008, culminating in New Zealand beating the Kangaroos to win the World Cup for the first time in its 54-year history. Only league can sort out its problems: Between 2002 and 2007, Sports and Recreation New Zealand invested $895,000 in rugby league. This was akin to tossing money down the drain, according to an independent review instigated by the government funding agency and chaired by Sir John Anderson. It found a "broken" game thanks to a culture at the New Zealand Rugby League that neither respected, valued nor pursued excellence and high standards. For Sparc, enough was enough. Haffenden reflects on a tough report: Life goes on for the New Zealand Rugby League's board. Bills and wages have to be paid, competitions must be organised. There is receipt of the spreadsheet from last year's World Cup to deal with and payment of the players' win bonuses. There are registration and transfer issues with players. But for chairman Ray Haffenden - addressing the mess at the NZRL and dealing with the consequences of Sparc's damning report - it's been as if his private life has stood still, the fishing rods have gathered dust. No longer in a league of their own: New Zealand rugby league will never die. But it is on oxygen-support and does deserve the high shot served by a government agency review panel. However, let's not kid ourselves. It will take more than rugby league people to reverse the financial fortunes of a sport which is riding high after the Kiwis' first World Cup win. Pre-season Training Made Easy On Activesmart And New Leaguesmart Websites: With pre-season training for New Zealand's winter sports codes already underway, ACC is reminding players to take care their season isn't over before it's even begun. While sportspeople will be keen to lace themselves back into their rugby boots or netball shoes, it's important they don't try to do too much too fast said ACC's injury prevention programme manager for sport, Joe Harawira. Can league bounce back?: IT'S hard to believe that the New Zealand sporting code that was the subject of such a damning review this week is also the one whose representative team produced a huge upset late last year to win its first World Cup. Franks keen to reach out to regions: Wellington Rugby League chairman Stephen Franks has embraced the recommendations of the Anderson Report and says the region is capable of reaching out to Hawke's Bay and Gisborne. The WRL meets tomorrow to formulate a view based on the Sparc-funded report's recommendations and Franks, who was consulted during the review process, said he would be very surprised if other board members didn't share his enthusiasm. Tasman wait and see over NZRL revamp: Tasman chairman Chris Lawton says it's a case of wait-and-see as to what effect a restructure of New Zealand Rugby League's administration will do for the district. A damning report released this week into the state of the sport in the country said "by and large, the districts have been left to wither on the vine", with Tasman and Otago not having any teams. PNG kicks off bid for NRL team: Papua New Guinea has kicked off their bid to enter a team into the Australian NRL competition. Rugby league is officially PNG's national sport and the NRL is considered a sporting Nirvana. But entering the NRL has wider implication than simply sporting success - it provides a unifying direction for millions of die-hard fans who often play all year round, barefoot, in searing heat and on rock-hard surfaces. Liddell lukewarm on report: The 100 plus-page Sparc review of New Zealand Rugby League hasn't filled Bay of Plenty District Rugby League chairman Bill Liddell with warm fuzzies. In fact the report, released publicly in Auckland on Monday to provide a way forward for the 13-a-side code, doesn't provide much new for the region, which is placed alongside Waikato and Coastline (Eastern and Western Bay of Plenty) in the new Upper Central Zone - one of seven outlined in the report. It's the fans who have kept league alive: A government agency waved its magic $450,000 wand at league this week, but unfortunately it failed to produce a magician. Then again, even Merlin would have his work cut out with New Zealand league. Damning report can revitalise the code, says ARL boss: Key rugby league figures have supported Sir John Anderson's decision not to name names or pursue a witchhunt over allegations made in the Sparc report into mismanagement of the sport. "The Department of Internal Affairs and the Serious Fraud Office have been through the place and they didn't take anyone to court," the Auckland Rugby League chairman Cameron McGregor said of the national governing body. NZRL to look to schools to boost numbers: One aspect of the Anderson report in particular has earned praise from former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott. The report on the management of the New Zealand Rugby League has recommended sweeping changes to the sport's governance. Endacott is delighted the report has identified the NZRL needs to redevelop a competition in schools nationwide. Finally, a backroom plan to match the on-field successes: Rugby league took giant strides in expanding into a national competition in 1994 and the following year the Warriors played their first game. Opportunity aplenty for healthy growth. But instead the game went backwards, lurching from one crisis to the next with poor management and poor decision-making scarring the history of the New Zealand Rugby League and the Auckland-based National Rugby League club. This is a step in right direction – Endacott: Former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott has backed the findings in the damning report on the state of New Zealand Rugby League but would like to see current chairman Ray Haffenden stay on. An independent review, initiated by Sparc boss Peter Miskimmin and headed by Sir John Anderson, unravelled a long trail of problems in rugby league presented in a lengthy document. Saving a broken game: As Kiwi skipper Nathan Cayless hoisted the trophy in the air after last year's glorious 34-20 World Cup final victory over the Kangaroos, few would have imagined the sorry state into which New Zealand league had fallen. League is a "broken" sport after $2.2 million was lost in 2006-07 through mismanagement and financial immaturity or incompetence. NZRL to look to schools to boost numbers: One aspect of the Anderson report in particular has earned praise from former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott. The report on the management of the New Zealand Rugby League has recommended sweeping changes to the sport's governance. Endacott is delighted the report has identified the NZRL needs to redevelop a competition in schools nationwide. Sir John: I had no choice or league could die: Sir John Anderson said his damning report into the perilous state of rugby league in New Zealand wasn't a witch hunt but was essential because the sport was broken and had the potential to wither and die.