Rugby League: Warriors selloff in jeopardy as Tainui fights on

By ALAN PERROTT and PAUL YANDALL

New Zealand Rugby League's purchase of the struggling Auckland Warriors could be kicked into touch by a power struggle within the club's present majority owner, Tainui.

NZRL president Gerald Ryan said both parties had signed the contract to buy the club and the NZRL was preparing to move into the club when it heard about a High Court challenge to stop the sale.

"We've got a contract, but the issue now is whether the [Tainui] people who signed it are still there on Monday."

Mr Ryan said he was given no warning of the injunction, and heard about it only through the media.

The purchase was agreed on Thursday, but that night Tainui's Sir Robert Mahuta applied to the High Court in Hamilton to stop the sale on the grounds that the price of $400,000 was too low.

Sir Robert leads one of the factions battling for control of the iwi. The battle had reached the High Court but in a closed hearing at Hamilton yesterday Sir Robert, the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and Tainui's parliament, Te Kauhanganui, reached an agreement with Tekaumarua, the iwi's 12-person ruling executive, to settle the tribe's dispute themselves.

Six members of Tekaumarua sought an interim injunction last month preventing their sacking after the 183-member Te Kauhanganui voted to dismiss them on August 12.

In court yesterday, Justice Grant Hammond said the litigation had been settled. "I'm very pleased to see that common sense has prevailed."

Sir Robert's group has been trying to negotiate its own Warriors sale with rival buyer the Yes Group.

The faction that negotiated the NZRL deal is led by Tekaumarua chairman Kingi Porima.

But five Tekaumarua members have resigned in three months, effectively ending its quorum.

Sir Robert argued in his injunction that Tekaumarua should not make any commercial decisions while it did not have a quorum and while talks on the tribe's future were going on.

The sale is on hold until Justice Hammond rules on it on Monday.

Tainui's legal adviser, Shane Solomon, said Sir Robert filed the injunction to preserve the club's status quo until after the tribe had a chance to settle its internal disputes.

But Mr Ryan said the dispute threatens the Warriors' future.

"[The sale] could collapse if this goes on much longer. A whole gang of lawyers are holding everything up. We've been correct, played with a straight bat and kept Tainui's interests in mind, so I'm getting very browned off at the bagging that's been directed at us."

The Tainui iwi has been racked with infighting since Tekaumarua was voted into existence in April. Sir Robert has fought other members of the executive for control of the tribe's finances since its dire financial position was made known.

Now, Tekaumarua representatives face removal from their posts when the iwi's 183-member parliament, Te Kauhanganui, meets tomorrow.

Tekaumarua executive Hemi Rau said the interim injunction was disappointing, as a sale had been agreed between NZRL and Tainui.

He admitted that the sale price of $400,000 for the troubled club was disappointing, but said it was the best offer available.

"We're not happy with the price, but the club's been on the market for six to eight weeks now."

Mr Rau said the executive was keen to have a solid buyer such as the NZRL take over the Warriors. He dismissed an "eleventh-hour" bid by former Tainui executive Jeff Green on Thursday as "mischievous."

The Warriors' best-known supporter, the "Mad Butcher" Peter Leitch, said the situation was disastrous and very sad for league.

Sir Robert Mahuta says the Waikato tribe will risk collapsing if it does not settle its dispute at a hui tomorrow.

Mr Kingi Porima said he welcomed yesterday's agreement as it meant Te Kauhanganui would have to adhere to its own constitution in making any decision affecting the executive.