Southland Stags commit to Cup
Rugby Southland is committed to taking part in this year’s Mitre 10 Cup, although its new chief executive concedes it is time to look at the organisation’s business model.
Reports surfaced on Wednesday night which suggested seven of the 14 provincial unions were yet to commit to playing in this year’s Mitre 10 cup which is scheduled to start on September 11.
It was reported that Southland, Northland, Taranaki, and North Harbour were all in immediate danger of pulling out because of negotiations with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association around player payments.
Rugby Southland chief executive Steve Mitchell was furious that someone outside the union had spoken to media about Southland’s plight and was miffed by the speculation. He was eager to voice that disappointment when provincial unions met yesterday afternoon.
‘‘We are 100 per cent committed to playing in the Mitre 10 Cup. Somebody has spoken on our behalf, and they had no mandate to do so. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since that came out,’’ Mitchell said. ‘‘I have 100 per cent support of the board, and we will be playing in the Mitre 10 Cup.
‘‘Based on our current financial forecast we are confident we can play in this year’s Mitre 10 Cup.’’
The negotiations with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association were ongoing but Mitchell said if the negotiations did end up at the point where they sit at the moment, Southland would play in the Mitre 10 Cup. The negotiations have been drawn out which had been frustrating, Mitchell said.
While the Stags were committed to this year’s provincial competition, Mitchell did not shy away from the fact the union faced financial challenges.
Rugby Southland was now operating with a 15 per cent funding cut from New Zealand Rugby.
Rugby Southland’s latest financial reports showed its NZR funding previously sat at about $1.4 million, annually, which wa a significant amount of Rugby Southland’s $3.6m revenue.
The challenges that Southland businesses face on the back of Covid-19 also meant Rugby Southland’s commercial sponsorship revenue streams.
The Invercargill and Licensing Trust and the ILT Foundation also contribute about $745,000 annually to Rugby Southland. There was every prospect that funding would be scaled back heading into 2021 given the financial challenges the ILT were working through.
Mitchell was not prepared to publicly put a dollar figure on just what damage Covid-19 had done to Rugby Southland, but what he said it had prompted them to take a closer look at the organisation’s business model.
He said they needed to think outside the square around partnerships and ensure they became more cost-effective.
Mitchell only started in the role last month and was yet to arrive in Southland because of the lockdown period. He will make the shift from Nelson to Invercargill next week and that was when he will take a closer look at its operations. ‘‘No stone will be left unturned in looking at the state of Southland rugby going forward.’’
In recent years Rugby Southland had hovered around the $800,000 mark in terms of Stags player spend, one of the lowest in the competition.
Stags coach Dale McLeod had already indicated before the Covid-19 situation that the budget had been tightened even further for player contracting this year.
Mitchell said player spend was just one component of Rugby Southland’s outgoings, but at the moment it was an area that had been highlighted.
In response to if Micthell was suggesting a competition closer to amateur than professional, he said; ‘‘I think where Mitre 10 is meant to sit is in the semi-professional model.’’
He added at the moment about 80 per cent of the Stags players had fulltime jobs and took time off work through the Mitre 10 Cup. Whereas other unions were full of fulltime professional players, he said.