SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
The Southland Stags are on the verge of breaking one of New Zealand rugby’s most unwanted records. Robert van Royen reports on the problems in the deep south.
Downing tools and fleeing to the Heartland Championship isn’t the answer to Southland’s woes, chief executive Brian Hopley insists.
Deep in a record 17-match losing streak that kicked off almost two years ago, there have been numerous calls from the rugby public, including from their own fans, demanding they take the plunge.
On the field, these are dark days for Southland, a union which needed a $1.5 million cash injection to haul it out of a financial crater in 2011. Not only are the Stags rapidly closing in on two years since they won a game (October 8, 2016), they’ve come out on top in just four of their past 36 fixtures in New Zealand’s provincial competition.
Many fans have had enough, wondering whether their side would even be able to foot it with Heartland top-dog Wanganui.
Hopley feels their pain, but doesn’t think the Invercargill-based team should run for the hills.
‘‘Not from my end, not at this stage. I can’t speak for 10 years down the track, but at this stage, no,’’ he said. ‘‘We need to hang in there and stay in the Mitre 10 Cup. And it’s not just from our point of view, it’s also from the point of view of New Zealand Rugby.
‘‘We’ve got to look at the whole scene. Mitre 10 Cup is a development stage, it’s a pathway to the All Blacks. If you start reducing the number of players competing at that level, then you’re going to reduce your pathway.’’
New Zealand Rugby head of provincial rugby Steve Lancaster shut down a possible switch, saying there were no plans to review the composition of the provincial competitions.
‘‘We don’t have any immediate concerns around Southland or their performance. We’d like to see them getting some more wins, for their own sake and the sake of the competition, but I don’t think they’re far away from it.’’
Southland, who have lost all six of their matches this year by at least 16 points, are two defeats shy of Northland’s 19-match losing streak from 2014 to 2016. Only North Otago (21), East Coast (27), West Coast (33) and East Coast (39*) have been through a more rotten stretch.
Last September, after a 57-0 towelling to Bay of Plenty, Rugby Southland issued an apology to its fans, sponsors and funders, labelling its team’s showing in the competition as ‘‘unacceptable’’.
The statement listed a string of reasons why the team was struggling to compete, including the battle to retain promising young players, and targeted a few areas it needed to improve, such as the standard of club rugby in the region. It also stressed the importance of increasing the team’s player salary cap, which is based on a percentage of its commercial revenue, and topped $2m before it all came crashing down in 2010.
In 2016, Southland spent $650,000 on player salaries. That’s now increased to $800,000.
‘‘We’re probably similar to a couple of the other smaller unions. I’m not totally privy to what they are but I know another couple of smaller unions are about the same now. I think the bigger unions have got a bigger commercial income so they can afford to go a bit higher. But if you compare us to Otago and Manawatu¯ , we’re very similar,’’ Hopley said.
When Hopley replaced Andrew Moreton in February to kickoff his second tenure as Rugby Southland boss, Moreton told Stuff that Rugby Southland needed to find another $250,000 per year to be competitive in the Mitre 10 Cup.
Easier said than done in today’s commercial environment but Hopley said there was positive news off the paddock.
The union recorded a $107,000 surplus last year, keeping it on track to repay its $500,000 loan – a third of its 2011 bailout package – from New Zealand Rugby next April, freeing up funds for areas such as player retention.
‘‘It’s [the union] sound. It’s tough, because it’s a tough market place. But it’s sound and we’re working towards trying to improve that.’’
‘‘We need to hang in there and stay in the Mitre 10 Cup. And it’s not just from our point of view, it’s also from the point of view of New Zealand Rugby.’’ Brian Hopley, Rugby Southland chief executive