No regrets: Robinson’s rocky road fires Warriors title dream

When Mark Robinson took sole control of the Warriors in 2019, he was looking forward to seeing them play at Mt Smart Stadium. He’s still waiting.

When Mark Robinson bought the Warriors outright nearly two years ago, one of the first things he did was upgrade the team’s changing rooms at Mt Smart Stadium.

Almost two years on, the pristine new changing facilities still haven’t been used.

As everyone knows, the team haven’t played an NRL game in New Zealand since 2019, but the changing rooms highlight the difference between what Robinson thought it would be like to own the country’s only NRL club and what’s actually occurred.

However, speaking to the Sunday Star-Times from his Australian base, Robinson says redoing the rooms was a pivotal moment for him.

‘‘Of course the last two years haven’t been that great, but even though we are distanced from New Zealand and not using our facilities, it was the start of the culture we wanted to bring to the club,’’ Robinson said.

‘‘We needed to have the best stuff, tidy the place up, it’s got to be run like a business and the culture has got to be good. You’re not going to have that with a scruffy office or gym.

‘‘Since we’ve been over here, the culture has started to set in concrete. Everyone’s working hard together and no-one’s taking all the credit for anything as a whole, which is what the main goal for me was.

‘‘So the changing rooms was a start, we’ve since got ‘Gus’ (Phil Gould) on board and are starting to build more platforms.’’

When Robinson bought Auckland Rugby League’s share of the Warriors, with Rob Croot, the CEO of his company Autex Industries as the chairman, he did it mainly because of his love of the game and the club.

He wanted to help the currently ninth-placed club win an NRL premiership and while knowing it wouldn’t be a smooth ride, he clearly never expected the issues the club has faced. However, he says he doesn’t have any regrets.

‘‘Since I bought my big share I’m 100 per cent committed and it’s exciting for me,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re not going to make a lot of money with this, we’ll probably lose a bit, but that’s part of the journey.

‘‘I didn’t buy this club to make money, I bought it to win competitions. People always go on about the money and that is important, but the most important thing is that we’ve got to win and it costs money to have the best team.

‘‘We have pathways and junior football to build with Gus over the next few years in Auckland, so we can look at the talent coming through and put more investment into the teams going into Australia. Maybe an SG Ball and under-20s team, so we really start to get it going in the New Zealand system.’’

It’s fair to say the joint venture between Autex and Auckland Rugby League’s Carlaw Heritage Trust in owning the Warriors was a complete disaster.

Both wanted different things out of owning the club and 18 months in the partnership was over, with Robinson and Autex taking full control. Croot says if they hadn’t taken 100 per cent ownership, the Warriors wouldn’t have survived.

‘‘No chance. Absolutely no chance,’’ Croot said.

‘‘We gave it everything up until the point where we said ‘you take it, or we’ll take it.’

‘‘But together we would have killed the club, especially with Covid.

‘‘Those guys didn’t want to spend money, they made promises that couldn’t be delivered and we couldn’t continue to face that.

‘‘I believe the club would have been in a very dire position if Autex hadn’t taken over when they did.’’

The club’s management have had to deal with the team being based in Terrigal for two years, negotiate their way out of having to pay $5 million in taxes to the Australia government, deal with homesick players, having preseason camps in two countries, and even now having some staff in Auckland and others in Terrigal.

But even as they’ve gone from crisis to crisis, they’ve still been able to look at the bigger picture. ‘‘The uncertainty is the tough one we’re dealing with,’’ admitted Croot.

‘‘The long-term vision is dead set and that’s why we bought the club, the little details you just deal with day-to-day and know that when we get back to our base we can really start to move things forward.

‘‘We’ve also been able to get rid of the stuff we inherited.

‘‘We picked up a club that was underinvested in, under-loved and didn’t have the right culture.

‘‘Even now, our roster and the way we contract players and think about contracting players is completely different, and everyone around the club and stakeholders can see that.’’

Support for the Warriors hasn’t diminished during the club’s absence from New Zealand and they are still working on getting a game in Mt Smart this season. If it happens, Robinson believes it will be a special occasion for players and fans.

‘‘If we get a game back there . . . everyone is going to see the excitement with this team and we’ll have a sell-out.’’

‘‘I didn’t buy the club to make money, I bought it to win competitions.’’ Mark Robinson, left