KEY POINTS:
Another battle is looming at the NZRL after acting chairman Andrew Chalmers suspended vice chairman Peter Douglas for the rest of his 16-month term.
Douglas was suspended for a "serious breach" of conduct when it was alleged he divulged confidential information in alerting former chairman Selwyn Bennett that he would be asked to step down in the wake of the Nathan Fien affair.
Douglas, however, refutes that he contacted Bennett but that if he had, he would have been within his rights as vice chairman. Board member Keith Burgess has admitted he was the one who contacted Bennett.
With elections for the NZRL board due at March's AGM, some districts are outraged that Chalmers has ousted Douglas, who he might have seen as a threat. Chalmers took over as the NZRL's acting chairman rather than Douglas when Bennett resigned, largely because he was heavily involved in trying to smooth things over with Australia and Great Britain during Grannygate.
He has said he will step down as acting chairman and a member of the board in March but it's likely he will seek election as chairman on a permanent basis.
"We are not very happy," Coastline chairman Peter McKinnon said. "We don't even know why Peter has been dismissed because we haven't heard officially from the NZRL. None of the districts have been notified. From Coastline's perspective, this will have an impact on what happens [if Chalmers runs for chairman] in March."
Douglas was dumbfounded by what has happened and is likely to take legal action in an attempt to get reinstated. He was handed a letter by Chalmers and told he had been suspended moments before he was due to go into a board meeting last Friday.
"It has to be sorted because it's not right," Douglas said. "Not only did I not make the call [to Bennett] but the person who did has admitted it. There's something else going on that I'm totally unaware of and I think most people are. Most people are shaking their head.
"The outside perception is I have done something really serious. I didn't think there were any issues between us that could lead to something like this."
Asked if he wanted to be the chairman, Douglas replied: "One day but not at the moment. I have other things with work and other priorities."
Taranaki vice chairman Howie Tamati, a noted Chalmers supporter, backed the acting chairman's decision.
"It must have been a serious breach of governance and I believe the acting chairman would not have done that without thinking it through properly," Tamati said. "It's not something he would have taken lightly.
"Andrew is trying to put things right [at board level]. This is part of the process you go through to get the ship right and there are going to be ripples."
Tamati agreed the March AGM loomed as a significant occasion for the game, with all but Douglas' position on the board up for grabs. The 15 districts and seven affiliates vote in the majority of the board.
Chalmers declined to comment on what he considered a "private board matter".
