Rugby: Community rugby at heart of union

The performance of youngsters like Dan Hollinshead were a rare bright spot on the field this season for the Bay of Plenty Steamers. Photo / Getty Images

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers on the state of the game in the province:

On finding the balance between having a strong Steamers side and maintaining the health of community rugby:

"It's a big organisation ... we've got 10,000 players. We measure ourselves across a number of areas. The community rugby is a paramount part of what we are. The health and success of the community rugby game is as important as it is for our Steamers to be successful, as it is for a rep teams to be successful, and then obviously we've got to be financially viable as well. There are so many elements to us being successful ... there's so much more to us being a successful organisation than just one team.

"We always want more money to invest in our game. That's one of our challenges, when you look at the likes of Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Waikato, they generally operate with an extra million dollars a year plus on top of what Bay of Plenty Rugby has to spend in this region. That's not a new problem - that's an ongoing problem that we have faced for a number of years."

On the possibility of using some of last season's surplus to buy marquee players:

"That was mainly based off a Chiefs dividend. The union has worked hard over the last six or seven years to build a foundation that enables us to do more in the community and do more with all our programmes. Like anything, it's about being fiscally responsible.

"First and foremost we don't want to get into a situation - which has happened before - where provincial unions spend too much money on players at the risk of the health of club rugby or the community game.

"We're always identifying talent and if there are any opportunities we will consider those. But those are the decisions the board makes as to what are the best decisions for the whole game. It certainly can't just be based on egos and wanting to win games. It has to be about what is in the best interests of Bay of Plenty rugby.

"Public perception is that they want to have a winning team."

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union by the numbers:

• The larger unions operate with an annual turnover of between $8,000,000-$10,000,000. The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union's annual turnover is $4,000,000.

• The community game has grown by 600 players.

• CEO Mike Rogers also reported gains in coaching and refereeing numbers.