TO: NZRL Staff, Districts and Affiliates and Board FROM: Cushla Dawson DATE: 07 September 2009 RE: Media Summary Tuesday 01 September to Monday 07 September 2009 Warriors may ditch Vulcans: The Warriors are re-evaluating their commitment to the Auckland Vulcans and might look to the Fox Memorial as a place to farm out squad players from next season. The Vulcans is just one area being looked at in the Warriors' extensive review of the 2009 season. This year the Warriors contributed about $100,000 to the NSW Cup side in return for game time for some of their squad players like Aidan Kirk, Denan Kemp, Isaac John and Daniel O'Regan. Warriors to get tough and tight: The Warriors will play hardball with the Kiwis and won't release players who are under an injury cloud for next month's Four Nations. The club are undertaking a major review of what has been a disappointing season, looking at everything from coaches and players to travelling schedules and management structures, and one thing they have already identified is the drain of international football on players. Passion for rugby league returns to Timaru as Warriors find form to make semi-finals: Now the league season has come to a close, the Timaru Warriors have found a new lease on life after surpassing their original goal and making it into the semi-finals of the Canterbury Rugby League senior reserve championships. Unlike the well-known NRL with its league clubs, function rooms, fields and stands, the Timaru Warriors started their season at the opposite end of the scale. A last farewell to one of the greats: Tomorrow the curtain falls on the career of someone who many good judges rate as the best rugby league halfback of the modern era. Stacey Jones has enjoyed a career that most players can only dream of achieving. He was anointed as the "Little General" by commentators because it was obvious to all watching that he could and did organise his troops. RFL chairman wants Ashes revival - Lewis adds to voice to recent campaign: Rugby Football League chairman Richard Lewis is keen for Australia to put the Ashes up for grabs against England when the sides meet at the end of October. Australian Rugby League officials must decide whether to bow to pressure from past and present Test players who have called for the Ashes to be revived after a six-year absence. Kiwis order medical tests for injured Warriors: The Kiwis will be performing their own medical tests to assess whether Warriors Simon Mannering and Manu Vatuvei will be fit for the inaugural Four-Nations. The pair are in doubt for the season-ending tournament after being ruled out of the Warriors final match against the Storm. Warrior Likiliki makes junior team of year: Centre Siuatonga Likiliki is the solitary New Zealand Warrior named in the National Rugby League's (NRL) Toyota Cup team of the year. Likiliki, who made his senior NRL debut against Parramatta last month, has been one of the stars for the Warriors' juniors who sit sixth on the competition ladder. Tickets go on sale one-off rugby league test: Tickets go on sale today for Kiwis' one-off rugby league test in Rotorua. Tickets go on sale today for the only rugby league test being played in New Zealand this year [1 September] with demand for the Rotorua match expected to be strong from around the upper North Island. Fans will get a rare chance see the reigning world champion Kiwis up against a strong Tonga side at Rotorua International Stadium on Wednesday 14 October. Warriors undergo independent review: A high-profile group today began an independent review of the New Zealand Warriors as the club's disappointing National Rugby League campaign draws to a close. Chief executive Wayne Scurrah said the four-man group would spend time at the Warriors organisation this week, observing operational elements of the leadup to their final match of the season against Melbourne in Auckland on Saturday. Warriors may ditch Vulcans The Warriors are re-evaluating their commitment to the Auckland Vulcans and might look to the Fox Memorial as a place to farm out squad players from next season. The Vulcans is just one area being looked at in the Warriors' extensive review of the 2009 season. This year the Warriors contributed about $100,000 to the NSW Cup side in return for game time for some of their squad players like Aidan Kirk, Denan Kemp, Isaac John and Daniel O'Regan. The Vulcans, though, gain little traction in Auckland and home crowds can dip to as low as 200 at Mt Smart Stadium No 2. They attract closer to 1000 when they play at the home of Fox Memorial teams. Yesterday they were beaten 68-8 by the Bankstown City Bulls in their last game of the season. They finished last of the 11 teams. "The concept of the Vulcans has a lot of merit," outgoing Warriors football director John Hart said. "Has it achieved its aim? I would say both the Auckland Rugby League and us would have question marks over that and we would have to sit down and work out where we go." "The perfect solution would be if the Fox [Memorial competition] was as strong as NSW Cup," Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah added. "That would be fantastic. The Knights ballot their players out to teams [in the local competition] or we could have our own team." Auckland Rugby League chairman Cameron McGregor said they were committed to the Vulcans and hoped the team would survive if the Warriors withdrew their financial support. It cost the ARL about $300,000 in the first two seasons of the competition but that figure is likely to be closer to $150,000 this season. "There's a huge gap between the Fox and NRL and we see the Vulcans as an important link between the two," McGregor said. "It's not just the players who benefit. It's also allowing us to get our coaches up to that level, as well as our managers, trainers and referees. "The amount of money we were putting into it in the first two years was clearly unsustainable. We are trying to get the cash commitment down to a minimum. Whether the Warriors support us or not, we would like to find a way to keep the team going. "We need to talk to the Warriors about their continued involvement. They would have to get permission from the ARL to play in the Fox and that's not a foregone conclusion. We think that would be counter-productive." Maori Television are in talks about televising some Vulcans' games next season and the ARL are also looking at making Cornwall Park their home ground so fans know exactly where the team play each week. (Source: Michael Brown, Herald on Sunday, Sunday Sep 06, 2009) Warriors to get tough and tight The Warriors will play hardball with the Kiwis and won't release players who are under an injury cloud for next month's Four Nations. The club are undertaking a major review of what has been a disappointing season, looking at everything from coaches and players to travelling schedules and management structures, and one thing they have already identified is the drain of international football on players. It was one of the major points in an interview with Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah and outgoing football director John Hart about the club's massively disappointing 2009. Scurrah and Hart also indicated that: * Coach Ivan Cleary needs to deliver in 2010. * Future recruitment will focus on fewer but better Australian players. * The club made mistakes on recruitment and the release of players. * Sonny Fai's death had a major detrimental effect on players and the depth of the squad. * Changes will be made to the structure of the club, including Hart relinquishing his role as director of football. International availability The availability of the Warriors' Kiwis is a contentious issue. In the past, the club believed they were sympathetic to the Kiwis' cause to the detriment of their own fortunes but Hart says that has to change. "We are not going to play games [with the Kiwis] but we have players with injuries and we are not sending injured players away for another two months for them to be cannon fodder next year," he says. "We are very supportive of the Kiwis and I think we have been the most supportive club for years. We have hardly ever pulled players out and we will only do it on the basis of injuries and necessity. We give the Kiwis our management team so no one can say we're not committed to them. "We are not putting any pressure on individuals and telling them they aren't allowed to go. We will wait until the end of the season and do a fair medical but we are not going to send players injured." Medicals will be conducted by Warriors doctor John Mayhew and Kiwis doctor Simon Mayhew. Simon Mannering (knee, groin), Manu Vatuvei (knee), Jerome Ropati (shoulder), Sam Rapira (chest) and Kevin Locke (shoulder) are all struggling and are in serious doubt for the Four Nations. Australian prop Steve Price (eye, Achilles, finger), who has played only 14 games this season, is also an unlikely starter. Mannering's heavy workload of 92 straight NRL games and 19 consecutive tests was clearly taking its toll on the second-rower, while Ropati has been badly out of form. Rapira and Vatuvei have played well but have battled with injury all season and the exciting Locke might need a shoulder reconstruction.