New Zealand Rugby League's financial strife ends Australian Schoolboys games

Phil Holden from the NZRL speaking at a NRL Auckland nines press conference at Eden Park. 16 January 2015. New Zealand Herald photograph by Jason Oxenham.

The New Zealand Rugby League's financial position is so dire they cannot afford to send a national schoolboy's side across the Tasman to play their Australian rivals.

The NZRL accepted an invitation from Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League to send a schoolboy national team to play two games, at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on September 27 and at Kougari Oval, Wynham, on October 2.

However, the long-running annual clash has been put on the back burner after NZRL CEO Phil Holden wrote to ASSRL president Grant Edwards, saying financial constraints would now prevent them from attending.

The Australian schoolboy's side was recently named after which Edwards was forced to explain the unfortunate situation to the players and their parents in a letter obtained by Fairfax Media.

"We have received the following advice only recently from the CEO of New Zealand Rugby League," wrote Edwards, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"In an email on 5th August, Phil Holden informed me that ... It is with deep regret that I need to advise you that New Zealand Rugby League(NZRL) has withdrawn from this year's two test matches with the Australian Schoolboys in Queensland, October 2015. I understand that this news and decision will be devastating for all of those involved, from players to team support and to you personally. I regret this, particularly given the history between us but I have no option."

"This was entirely unexpected, and these circumstances are beyond our control ..."

The NRL has made attempts to reschedule the games but the NZRL are strong in their insistence that the fixtures cannot go ahead.

"In his email on August 5 [Holden] he said the NZRL financial position is such that they can no longer participate in the international exchange," said Edwards.

"We're very disappointed for the New Zealand kids who are in the same boat and would have been keen to represent their nation as well."

This situation comes as a further blow to the international game after the annual Anzac test between the Kangaroos and Kiwis was recently scrapped as part of the NRL's new $925 million television deal with channel Nine.

The Kangaroos remain World Champions but the Kiwis have sparked interest in the international arena after defeating Australia in their last three meetings, including last year's Four Nations success and this year's Anzac test.

These latest developments come after the NZRL was recently forced to rethink its strategic plan through to 2017, with several key objectives considered unrealistic from its current financial position.

The NZRL's annual financial report released in late June revealed a modest surplus of $16,000 for 2014-2015, leaving goals set within the 2014-17 strategic plan - of building $10 million in revenue and a $2 million surplus by 2017 - in tatters.

The NZRL accepts those objectives are now unachievable, together with the aim of making the seven zones that service the grassroots needs of the game nationally financially independent by 2017.

Compounding its financial woes is the need for the NZRL to amass $1 million to support the co-hosting of the 2017 World Cup, and it also hopes to finish repaying a $250,000 bank loan against its Beasley Ave Rugby League House headquarters.