Fale ready to sign off on Warriors
Richard Fale will return to New Zealand in the next couple of days in the hope of finalising the purchase of the Warriors.
The Hawaiian businessman has been keeping a low profile the past couple of weeks, since Stuff revealed Fale and his consortium had agreed the structure of the sale of the club with Eric Watson.
The public feud between himself and Auckland Rugby League chairman Cameron McGregor may have continued but there has been little news on how the sale of the club has been going.
In an interview with The SundayStar Times, Fale confirmed that negotiations have continued well. ‘‘We’re tying up the loose ends here,’’ Fale said. ‘‘It still looks like we’re on track and things will go down the way we expected. I think I’ll be there next week. That’s what I’m planning on right now.’’
While Fale is confident the sale will go through, the great start to the season that the club has had, has potentially left Watson thinking he might want to keep hold of the Warriors or look for a higher price.
‘‘I think these guys were waiting to see how long the winning streak was going to last and I think they also wanted to see how they went against the Dragons,’’ Fale said.
‘‘It doesn’t matter to us, if the team were 0 and seven. It would make zero difference to us, we’re still going to pay the same price. If they go undefeated for the rest of the season, that doesn’t affect anything for us.’’
A bigger issue for Fale is the dreadful relationship he has with Auckland Rugby League, particularly McGregor.
The ARL is also looking to buy the Warriors through the Carlaw Park Trust Fund.
If Fale’s group do take over the ownership with the Warriors, it’s crucial that the club has a good relationship with the ARL, but it seems impossible that could happen.
‘‘What we are concerned about is the fact that we’ll have an organisation as large and well-funded as
It still looks like we are on track. Potential Warriors owner Richard Fale
the ARL, lurking around in the background, waiting to stab us in the back at every opportunity they have,’’ Fale said.
‘‘It seems Cameron McGregor is capable and willing to carry out his threat, to push all the young players to Australian teams.
‘‘We have this elephant in the room that’s pretty vicious and will go to any length to try to hurt us. We’ll have to figure out how we’ll deal with that.’’
Last week, Fale suggested McGregor’s battle to stop his consortium buying the club was motivated by racism, that he didn’t want Pacific Islanders to have the Warriors.
However, Fale has now backed down from that point of view.
‘‘When we gave them the courtesy call, letting them know that we were going to be owning the team, I said we’d be the first Pacific Islanders to own any major professional franchise in the world,’’ Fale said.
‘‘He said he’d do everything in his power to stop us and that he’d do everything he can to work against us as the chair of the ARL.
‘‘So what I’ve come to understand is that it wasn’t the fact that he was trying to stop us as the first Pacific Island owners but it seems like a regular occurrence that the ARL, NZRL and Warriors don’t work together.’’
Issac Luke has conceded this could be his last year at the Warriors.
The hooker turns 31 next month and is in his final season of a threeyear contract.
Undoubtedly, this has been his best year in Warriors colours and he feels passionately about the club.
If he and his management are able to secure a new contract then great but, if his future lies elsewhere, he believes the Warriors are set up for the future with their other hookers.
‘‘The kids and the wife love it here,’’ Luke said of Auckland and the Warriors.
‘‘But if we have to relocate, then we have to relocate.
‘‘I know that we’ve got a lot of depth here now and I’ve got one more contract left in me, depending on how long it’s for.’’
‘‘At the moment, I’m trying to pass on my experience to the Nate Roaches, Jazz Tevagas and Sam Cooks.
‘‘I believe that if I do have to go somewhere else, that I’m leaving the jersey in great hands, because at the moment, I’m just a custodian of it and I do have to pass it on.’’
Given how disappointing last season was for Luke and the Warriors, it wouldn’t have been all that surprising if a press release had come out announcing the club had released him from the last year of his contract on compassionate grounds, to allow him to return to Australia.
However, just as he has demonstrated throughout his career on the field, Luke doesn’t take a backward step.
‘‘There was never any thought of that,’’ he said.
‘‘I came over here to play some good footy and I thought at the time that the best footy I could play would be in front of my family.
‘‘The last two years I haven’t accomplished that. I hate failure, so that’s why I wanted to stay. This is probably the biggest challenge I’ve had to date.
‘‘I’m coming off contract and I want to do good by the club, they’ve done good by me in bringing me home.
‘‘It’s a relationship where I’ve got to hold up my end of the deal.’’
Luke isn’t in a rush to sort out a new contract. With the way he’s playing, his value has certainly gone up.
‘‘I’ve just got to let my footy speak for itself,’’ he said.
‘‘The last six weeks have been really good and I’ve got to try to keep that up.’’
He says a stint in England before hanging up the boots is a possibility but he is starting to mull over what life would be like post being a rugby league player.
The kids and the wife love it here. But if we have to relocate, then we have to relocate. Isaac Luke