Hayton quits NZRL on eve of Cup report
Alex Hayton knew the writing was on the wall for him when deciding to resign as NZRL CEO after less than two years on the job.
Hayton fell on his sword yesterday, not long before the final findings of the inquiry into the disastrous World Cup are released.
Hayton, who did not respond to a call from Stuff for an interview, had seen the preliminary findings of the report carried out by Raelene Castle and Tim Castle.
Going now, rather than when the finished version comes out, allows him to dodge the tough questions about why it all went so wrong?
‘‘That was Alex’s decision. It was on his terms,’’ NZRL chair Reon Edwards said.
‘‘Alex had obviously given it some thought and it wasn’t anything that was engineered.
‘‘It was something Alex presented to us over the last day or so.
‘‘The fact that it’s prior to the review, we had a conversation around the preliminary findings and he probably had some insight into where the review was at.’’
The bad coverage of the NZRL and Kiwis over the past 18 months has been prolonged and painful.
From Stephen Kearney walking out as coach on the eve of the Kiwis end-of-season tour in 2016, to the drugs scandal in Canberra after last year’s Anzac test and even captain Adam Blair saying ‘‘it’s not a negative’’ after the quarterfinal loss to Fiji in Wellington. It’s been abysmal.
To be fair, not everything was of Hayton or the NZRL’s making. They didn’t buy cocaine outside a Canberra nightclub and they didn’t do the dirty on the country they were born in by switching national allegiances to Tonga at the last minute.
‘‘There are certainly a few events leading up to the World Cup which were completely out of our control,’’ Edwards said.
‘‘It was well documented around the timing of Stephen Kearney leaving and David Kidwell coming into the role.
‘‘Then obviously some assistant coaches leaving, right up to the start of the tournament.’’
So when the review comes out in the next couple of weeks, there will be no CEO or Kiwis coach in place. However, Edwards says the organisation hasn’t been standing still.
‘‘It is what it is at the moment,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got a pretty clear plan around the next four years, in terms of what our strategy is and we’ll roll that out along with the findings of the report.
‘‘The board has got a good plan in place, which we’ll be able to share more with the public over the coming weeks.
‘‘What’s all that matters is that we’ll have a strong plan in place for the next four years.’’
Whoever comes in as the next CEO will have a job on their hands in winning back the faith of the New Zealand league community.
They went three years without seeing the Kiwis play in this country, and when they did at the World Cup they were terrible and failed to connect with the general public.
‘‘We just want to be winning games, all of that stuff in terms of the fans will follow,’’ Edwards said.
‘‘It’s about focusing on strengthening the business, but also ensuring we’re fielding the best possible Kiwis team and winning international test matches.
‘‘If you can get those parts right, you can go a long way towards building support for the game in New Zealand.
‘‘There are lots of things we can improve on and it starts with having a good plan in place,’’ he added.