Tasman Makos: News

Makos stay in contest; strings attached
28-Sep-2008

By JOSH REICH - Nelson

Twenty-four hours ago, the Tasman Makos were dead in the water, but they now have a second lease on life, courtesy of a lifeline from the New Zealand Rugby Union.

The NZRU's stunning reversal of its decision to exclude Tasman from the Air New Zealand Cup, albeit conditional, has been greeted with joy by the team's Nelson administrators.

The Makos are back in the competition for the next two seasons provided they meet strict criteria set down by the NZRU, which announced yesterday it had decided to retain a 14-team competition, six weeks after publishing a draft proposal to cut it to 12 teams at the expense of Tasman and Northland.

Makos coach Todd Blackadder said a cloud had been lifted from the team ahead of today's Ranfurly Shield challenge against Wellington.

"Absolutely delighted and excited that the news has come through that we have a future ... our players have a future in the Air NZ Cup."

He said the impact of the decision on rugby throughout the region could not be underestimated.

"All of our players within the Tasman region, not just our current Makos, but the young men and the young girls that play this game, whether it's junior kids or our college kids or our seniors, academy players, Makos, it's fantastic - it's a win for them.

"It's a vote of confidence in them as rugby players."

Blackadder said there had been a lot of "yahooing and cheering" within the team when the decision came through.

He did not think the players would use it as motivation for the shield challenge, but they would know in the back of their minds that their future was more certain.

Tasman Rugby Union chairman Max Spence said he was delighted the union had been given a second chance, and it was committed to making good on promises made to the NZRU.

However, Marlborough chairman Peter Heagney was less enthusiastic than his Nelson colleagues, saying the union would take its direction from its member clubs, the vast majority of whom opposed being part of Tasman.

"They've made it quite clear they don't want to carry on."

He said he found it hard to get his head around the fact that the NZRU had rules and conditions but when it faced opposition, it backed down.

That could prove to be a problem for Tasman. NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs made it plain last night that repairing the fractured relationships within the union was a priority, and that both Marlborough and Nelson Bays must remain involved for top-flight status to be retained. As well, the union must remain financially viable and repay a $340,000 grant given to it last month by the NZRU.

However, Spence said this morning that major sponsors were committed to the Makos, and with Blenheim's Lansdowne Park no longer on the union's books, it did not have to worry about interest and depreciation on the balance sheet.

The union was confident about paying back the $340,000 over time.

"We weren't happy backing (the NZRU) into a corner on that score.

"We didn't want to go down in history knowing we owed the NZRU any money, so this is a way where we can keep our credibility by saying we want to talk about repaying that."

Spence said the Nelson Bays and Marlborough sub-unions needed to sit down and sort out their issues, as the Nelson and Marlborough public were in favour of keeping the status quo.

"The issues that we have got between the administrators of Nelson and Marlborough should not get in the way of developing the game in the future for the community and those who participate in it.

"We've got to lock ourselves in a room and talk about the issues. There will have to be some compromises on both sides, because it is not about individuals and individual administrators, it is about giving everyone an opportunity."

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said it would no longer bail out unions in financial strife.

"We have made it very clear now that the financial performance of these organisations will be very critical to their future participation in these tournaments."