RUGBY - Coach seeks job after NZ Maori games axed

by Peter Thorley and NZPA
Northland's coach of the year, Donny Stevenson, says he will have to look at other career options after being sidelined for 2009, along with the entire New Zealand Maori side, in a cost-cutting exercise.
"I'll have to start looking at other options now but that's always been the nature of that job - you never know what's coming," he said.
Stevenson, who took over as Maori coach when Matt Te Pou retired in 2005, said they were warned by the New Zealand Rugby Union that the reintroduction of the Junior All Blacks to replace the Maori in the Pacific Nations Cup would impact on their season.
"We were warned our programme would come under review but it's really disappointing to have no game scheduled for the year," he said.
He has been told there is still some talk in Wellington that alternative games might be found but Stevenson said the calendar was already tight.
The NZRU announced there would be no 2009 programme for the New Zealand Maori or the Heartland 15, and also scrapped the NPC development team competition in a move to reduce costs by $1 million.
Chief executive Steve Tew said that the NZRU had taken a "deliberately cautious approach" to its 2009 budget with an expectation that economic conditions globally and in New Zealand were likely to worsen even more before they started improving.
"We are projecting a loss in 2009 and within that budget we still have significant revenue at risk," he said.
"As a result, we have taken what we believe to be a sensible approach to our budget and have proactively reduced activity while we can manage the impacts, rather than have changes forced on us."
The Heartland 15 will now assemble only every two years instead of annually.
They toured North America this year but will not tour overseas or play matches in 2009.
New Zealand Maori will not assemble in 2009 at all.
The NZRU decided that, given the limited opportunities to assemble national teams in 2009, priority would be given to the Junior All Blacks as the second-ranked national men's team.
Tew said that, while the union's long-term view was that New Zealand Maori were the best fit for the Pacific Nations Cup, the development of the top level of players as a pathway to the All Blacks was a more urgent priority for next season.
"However, it is important to remember that Maori rugby, together with other areas of our game, still benefits from the annual funding of provincial unions," Tew said.
The NZRU is still exploring opportunities for matches overseas for the New Zealand Maori side.
The matches would be contingent on those fixtures generating revenue to cover the cost of the team's assembly.