Tough at the top of the Warriors
Success starts in the front office and the Warriors CEO job has proven more difficult than most in NZ sport.
Chief executive officer of the New Zealand Warriors. Is there a more difficult job in Kiwi sport? For 25 seasons the Aucklandbased NRL club has been an enigma that no one has been able to solve completely.
There has been the odd period of success – albeit without claiming an elusive premiership. But for the most part the Warriors, a onecountry team with all the potential in the world, have greatly underachieved.
Running a professional sports franchise is very different to the average chief executive role. The club could turn a big profit and have every other aspect of the business running smoothly yet the chief executive could still be judged a failure if the team is not performing on the field, where so much is out of their control.
Then there’s the challenges unique to the Warriors. Not only are they up against New Zealand’s dominant code – rugby – for the best local talent, more and more youngsters are being snapped up by rival NRL clubs.
Recruiting Australian-based stars can also be difficult, as most targets have declined to relocate across the Tasman.
The Warriors’ CEOs involvement in recruitment has tended to vary depending on who is in power.
Current boss Cameron George has Peter O’Sullivan, one of the most respected talent-spotters in the NRL, heading that department.
But just like the coach is also chiefly responsible for what happens on the field, success starts in the front office and the buck stops at the top.
There’s been an impressive turnover of chief executives since the Warriors’ inception – seven in total. Here’s how each has fared.
IAN ROBSON (1993-February 1997)
The club’s big-talking, bigspending inaugural boss, Robson’s tenure was defined by his extravagance, both on and off-field.
Robson was just 31 when appointed to the role. Speaking on
Sky TV documentary Keeping the Faith – 25 Years With The Warriors, he admitted to being out of his depth.
Yet from a pure marketing perspective, the Australian was a success. The Warriors were the talk of the country in the year leading up to their debut in the Winfield Cup, with the hype around the club off the charts.
But his spending was out of control. He paid significant overs for players such as Englishmen Denis Betts and Andy Platt, and former All Black John Kirwan, in a high-profile recruitment drive that failed to produce results.
Most of the fireworks were confined to the club’s excessive pre-match entertainment.
Robson saw the club through the start of the civil war between the Australian Rugby League and Rupert Murdoch-owned Super League, the Warriors siding with the latter, only to be squeezed out by the start of the breakaway competition in 1997.
He struck controversy in 2013 when forced to resign as boss of AFL club Essendon following an investigation into the team’s supplements programme.
But he has enjoyed an extensive career, including leading roles with Hawthorn Hawks (AFL), Melbourne Victory (A-League), Sports Scotland and, most recently, Rowing Australia.
BILL MacGOWAN (March 1997-1998)
What a time to step into the job. Not only was there little money left in the coffers due to the overspending of the previous regime, MacGowan arrived during one of the most turbulent times in the game’s history at the height of the Super League war.
It was no different at Mt Smart. MacGowan started the job in March and by the end of April had appointed Frank Endacott as coach, following John Monie’s departure.
The Warriors could finish only seventh (out of 10 teams) in 1997, although they did reach the semifinals of the World Cup Challenge.
MacGowan left at the end of the 1998 campaign when the club was purchased by the Tainui and Graham Lowe-Malcolm Boyle consortium.
A highly versatile administrator, he went on to serve a second term as chief of NZ Football, followed by the same role for NZ Golf.
MacGowan died aged 66 in May 2018, of cancer.
TREVOR McKEWEN (1999-2000)
If anyone thought the Warriors’ first venture into private ownership would lead to a change in fortunes, they were sadly mistaken. The worst was yet to come and, unfortunately, for McKewen, who had a strong media background and was coming off stints with Super League and the NRL, the club’s multitude of problems left him working with both hands behind his back.
The Mark Graham-coached Warriors ended up making a promising run toward the end of McKewen’s first season in charge. But off the field, they were about to implode.
With News Limited cutting off funding following the resolution to the Super League war, the Warriors were left with an astronomical wage bill.
Factions within Tainui were also questioning the logic of purchasing a professional sports team, while Lowe and Boyle were at odds with the iwi.
The Warriors endured one of their worst seasons in 2000 but by the end of the year, the on-field issues were the least of their problems.
With Tainui deciding to cut its losses and move on, there was a real threat that the club could fold. MICK WATSON (2001-2005) The Warriors were, of course, bailed by businessman Eric Watson, who later credited Mick Watson for playing a major role in rebuilding club. But it was a tenure of two halves.
A successful, ambitious businessman from Australia, Mick Watson was a breath of fresh air who, along with coach Daniel Anderson, had awoken the NRL’s sleeping giant.
They made the finals for the first time in 2001, reached their first grand final (winning the minor premiership) the following year, while falling a game short of the big dance in 2003.
Then it started to unravel. First there was the stunning decision to cut Ali Lauiti’iti, at the time one of the most exciting forwards in the game. That was followed by an attempt to bring a Pacifica team into Super Rugby, while the Warriors struggled on the field.
In his 2009 book, Be Your Best, former Warriors captain Steve Price was highly critical of Watson’s management style, claiming he unnecessarily pushed players out of the club and intimidated staff.
Watson resigned at the end of the 2005 before the Warriors were found to have committed major breaches of the salary cap under his watch.
As a result, they were given a hefty fine and docked four competition points in 2006, which ultimately prevented them from finishing in the top eight.
WAYNE SCURRAH (2006-2014)
After Watson’s erratic reign, Scurrah, together with coach Ivan Cleary, brought a steady presence to the club and remains their longest-serving CEO.
After unknowingly walking into the salary cap mess, the Warriors went on to reach the playoffs in four of the next five seasons.
In 2009, Scurrah had the unenviable task of guiding the Warriors through the Sonny Fai tragedy, which had a devastating effect on the club.
They gradually regrouped and two years later achieved the remarkable feat of having teams from all three grades (NRL, reserve grade and under-20s) make the grand final.
But the success – and stability – didn’t last. Midway through the 2011 campaign, Cleary was granted an early release to join Penrith the following year, marking a pivotal moment in the club’s history.
Brian McClennan, a popular replacement following his success with the Kiwis, was sacked before the end of the 2012 season.
That started a run of high-profile appointments Scurrah oversaw during the last few years of his tenure that never worked out, including head coaches Matthew Elliot and Andrew McFadden, Dean Bell as general manager of football operations and England fullback Sam Tomkins.
He resigned in 2014 without returning to the playoffs.
JIM DOYLE (2015-2017) When Doyle agreed to run the show at Mt Smart, it seemed as if the Warriors had finally found the man to deliver long-term success.
He certainly had the right CV. Doyle forged an extremely successfully business career before switching his attention to sports administration, turning around New Zealand Rugby League before serving as the NRL’s chief operating officer.
Doyle achieved some significant milestones during his time at the club. Extending the Warriors’ licence at Mt Smart Stadium, when local government officials wanted them to move to Eden Park or North Harbour Stadium, was a huge win for fans, while the signing of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck may well go down as the greatest in the club’s history (if it isn’t already).
But not all big-name signings worked out – the Kieran Foran experiment ended in failure – and it became apparent the team needed a new direction when they continued to miss the finals in 2016.
McFadden was demoted as Stephen Kearney was appointed head coach. But there was still another season of hardship on the field before the club would see success.
Doyle moved into an executive chairman role following the 2017 campaign and stepped aside completely the following year after overseeing Eric Watson’s sale of the club to Carlaw Heritage Trust and Autex Industries.
CAMERON GEORGE (end of 2017-present)
Two ownership changes, a return to the playoffs, the acrimonious departure of the face of the club and the introduction of a women’s team – even by Warriors standards, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for George since he stepped into the top job.
A straight-shooting Australian and former CEO of Auckland Racing, George came in promising no excuses and demanding accountability, while surrounding
Kearney with an impressive football department.
That included securing veteran coach Brian Smith as general manager, then leading high performance trainer Alex Corvo, followed by O’Sullivan.
The results soon followed. The Warriors made a record start to the 2018 season and went on to snap their seven-year finals drought.
At a time when sports face more competition than ever to attract fans, George also deserves credit for the Warriors’ innovative ticketing deals as he constantly looks to boost membership.
It didn’t take long for the tough times to return. It began with the sudden split of star playmaker Shaun Johnson last off-season.
George was criticised for the way he handled the saga, but at the time it felt like a line-in-the-sand moment for the Warriors – that they would no longer tolerate bigname players who fail to live up to their lucrative salaries week in, week out.
Johnson’s exit left a huge void that wasn’t filled until May, when the Warriors brought in Kodi Nikorima from Brisbane. The jury is still out on that signing.
The Warriors finished the 2019 season in 13th place amidst an ownership dispute that saw Autex take full control.
Smith and Corvo have both left but while George has the support of owner Mark Robinson, everyone at the club is on notice in 2020 and he is no different.