Unfinished business for fomer boss

Michael Burgess

Outgoing Warriors managing director Jim Doyle is leaving the role with a sense of mission unaccomplished, but remains positive about the future of the Auckland club.

The Warriors’ executive reshuffle — Doyle moving upstairs into an executive chairman role, current chief operating officer Cameron George taking on the CEO position and owner Eric Watson relinquishing his position as chairman — ends Doyle’s near three-year tenure in charge of the Warriors, which started with such high expectations but has ultimately failed to deliver tangible improvements on the field.

“Off the field, I am comfortable with what I have done and there have been a lot of improvements across the board in a number of areas,” Doyle told the

“But what matters the most to most people is the performance on the field.

“I’ve been here for three seasons and we haven’t made the finals in any of them. There have been a lot of positives over the last few years but the biggest disappointment has been not being able to get the club to the heights that we wanted to.”

After finishing ninth in 2014 — and missing the finals on points differential — the Warriors crashed to 13th place the following year, with Shaun Johnson’s broken ankle the catalyst for a dismal finish to the year. In 2016, the Warriors finished 10th, three points outside the top eight, and this season, they have slumped from a promising mid-year position to within reach of the wooden spoon.

Doyle has been hamstrung to a degree by Watson’s absence from these shores — meaning Doyle was effectively performing both CEO and chairman roles — but he makes no excuses.

“In my first year, my expectations were low, but in the second and third years, I had high expectations and we haven’t delivered, said Doyle.”

However Doyle said yesterday’s moves had been planned for months, and wasn’t simply a reaction to the current malaise at the club.

Doyle said long-term he will be less prominent around Mt Smart day-to-day.