South Island NRL bid chases Hollywood star backing
The Christchurch-based bid for a South Island NRL expansion franchise has secured its first significant investor.
The consortium’s newly appointed chief executive, former Canterbury Rugby League chairman Tony Kidd, told Sports Insider support for the bid is growing weekly and a seed investor had been found.
Kidd said the offer had come from “a prominent overseas investment firm specialising in fundraising platforms and direct investments”, with a public announcement soon to come.
He added the consortium was closely collaborating with the Government and, in an intriguing twist, are “in discussions with major Hollywood celebrity representatives about potentially becoming the face of our bid”.
I’m racking my brain trying to think who that could be. Sam Neill perhaps? Taika Waititi or Jason Momoa? There’s a successful precedent in Ryan Reynolds’ investment in Wrexham.
Kidd also revealed the consortium plans to host a “significant number of games” at the new Christchurch Te Kaha Stadium and is engaged in “long-term strategy discussions” with the council.
“We are also in ongoing discussions with major non-NRL clubs across three countries to establish feeder systems and support infrastructure, with an aim for entry in the 2026 season,” he said.
I think it’s unlikely the Mainlanders, who are committed to men’s and women’s teams in the NRL, will gain the 18th expansion franchise tipped to enter the competition in 2026 but Kidd maintains they can be ready by then if they gain the nod.
A team from Papua New Guinea is tipped to take that spot due to Australian Government financial support (to, I kid you not, see off Chinese expansion in the area) but interestingly, that bid is not supported by current NRL coaches, who say it is the wrong move.
Only 10 per cent of NRL coaches favoured the PNG option as the next franchise, with 50 per cent opting for Perth and 23 per cent advocating a second New Zealand team.
Cairns, Perth and original Australian Rugby League foundation club the North Sydney Bears are the South Island’s rivals for the 18th team but the NRL wants to expand to 20 teams by 2030, a more likely entry target for the Mainlanders.
Chickens come home to roost
Last year wasn’t exactly stellar for New Zealand Rugby in many respects.
An independent governance review recommending the entire board stand down capped a 2023 to forget.
But, incredibly, 2024 has yet to kick a ball in anger on the field and already we have evidence of ongoing tumultuous times within the secretive walls of Rugby HQ.
Chief executive Mark Robinson and board members had barely got their feet back under the desk after the summer holiday break when Herald rugby writer Gregor Paul lowered the boom on them with this February 1 exclusive on the troubled partnership with American private equity giants Silver Lake.
The revelations that NZR faces a dramatic financial crunch and could have squandered a $262 million investment into our national game by 2031 should deeply concern all rugby fans in this country.
In reality, it is merely the chickens coming home to roost over a dumb deal which featured massive overpromising, a falsely rosy set of financials and a bunch of bonehead provincial union administrators feathering their own nests.
In my opinion, it’s already such a debacle that I can only stand up and applaud last year’s independent governance review and agree — the entire board should go now.
In revealing the latest twist in the tortured Silver Lake story, Paul presented us with compelling evidence once again that the country’s 26 provincial unions continue to be the tail that wags the NZR dog.
As a weak board sits by, the game in this country continues to be steered towards a financial nightmare.
Wahs women comeback
I am reliably informed the Warriors will finally have a women’s team playing in the Women’s National Rugby League (NRLW) again from next season.
Of the 17 NRL clubs, the Warriors are among seven who don’t field a women’s team, having withdrawn in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.
Since then, the NRLW has gone from strength to strength and is full of New Zealand stars, including several former Black Ferns such as Olympic champions Gayle Broughton and Tyla Nathan-Wong.
Indeed, Auckland-bred Georgia Hale, who plays for the Gold Coast Titans, was named the best player in the international women’s game during 2023.
So arguably, the Warriors have missed a trick in recent seasons, and on Kiwi talent alone, would be a premiership force every year.
Warriors chief executive Cameron George said a year ago that he wanted to see the team return in 2025 and the club remains on target for an anticipated return next season.
The Warriors responded with this statement following a Sports Insider query this week: “The club is keen to return to the competition in 2025. We’ve been planning along those lines for some time and are just awaiting approval to rejoin the NRLW next year. Inaugural Kiwi Ferns captain and current New Zealand Kiwis manager Nadene Conlon was appointed our NRLW academy manager early last year, tasked with creating a women’s development and pathways programme ahead of returning to the NRLW.”
The return of the Warriors wa¯hine has been slower than some would’ve liked but it’s tough to criticise team owner Mark Robinson (no relation to the aforementioned rugby boss).
Despite a rocky first season of full ownership, Robinson is proving he may be the best owner yet of the Warriors franchise, diving into his own pockets to invest in muchneeded player development pathways that previous owners ignored and thus securing a more promising future for the club.
Reel of the Week
Tom Brady was recently in Brisbane where he beguiled fans at a sold-out capacity speaking engagement by hurling a bullet ball from the stage to former Warriors turned Broncos star Reece Walsh who caught it on the run and spiked it NFL-style as the audience went wild.
Brady later signed the ball for Walsh, who was labelled the “Tom Brady of Queensland” when he was introduced to speak on stage before the star act.
Asked if he had ever given thought to playing in the NFL, Walsh said not until now, but was aware “there’s bit more money there”.
American MC JT Foxx told Walsh: “With your looks and skills, you’re looking at $25m to $30m a year, and that’s US.”
The Aussie media lapped it up.
Saudi watch
It was inevitable that the poisonous tentacles of Saudi Arabian investment in sport would ultimately reach rugby.
According to multiple media reports, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are in talks to buy a stake in four clubs in the basket-case English club premiership.
The PIF has begun negotiations with Gloucester, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons over securing a potential seven-figure takeover.
English rugby has been in the midst of a colossal financial crisis over the past two years, with London Irish, Wasps and Worcester Warriors all going to the wall.
How long before we see the Saudis attempting to host big rugby matches in the Gulf ? Perhaps we would see a repeat of the recently announced All Blacks-Fiji test in the United States, only hosted in Riyadh.
That will cue a moral argument New Zealand Rugby had better be ready for. Trevor McKewen is one of New Zealand’s most experienced journalists and sports business commentators, and a former head of sport for NZME. He has also held senior executive roles at New Zealand Rugby and the Warriors and holds a particular interest in the commercial side of sport. Now semi-retired, he is writing the Sports Insider column weekly “to keep sports fans informed and administrators honest”.