Codie Taylor of the Crusaders receives the Super Rugby Aotearoa trophy from Stewart Mitchell. Photo / Getty
Codie Taylor of the Crusaders receives the Super Rugby Aotearoa trophy from Stewart Mitchell. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
Newly appointed New Zealand Rugby chair Stewart Mitchell produced the obligatory upbeat statement on assuming the role on Monday night, saying that he sees the current rugby landscape as one rich with opportunity.
He's right to be optimistic. The game here sits at a critical juncture, but all roadsappear to lead to somewhere with a brighter and more sustainable financial future.
Not all roads, however, can currently be reached as they require bridges to be rebuilt so they can be accessed and if 69-year-old Mitchell is to have a successful tenure, he will need to bring the diplomatic and restorative powers of Henry Kissinger to the role.
The obvious and most critical place for him to start the rebuild is with the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association – something he has already made a priority.
Relations between the NZRPA and NZR have reached their lowest point in their 20-plus year history.
The simplistic view is that the former is opposed to NZR's plans to sell a 12.5 stake of future net revenue to US fund manager Silver Lake.
But the cracks in the relationship between NZR and NZRPA run much deeper than the two not agreeing on the best means to raise capital to fund the future of the game.
The players clearly feel that their negotiated rights to be consulted were not fully adhered to in the process of bringing the Silver Lake proposal to the table.
Codie Taylor of the Crusaders receives the Super Rugby Aotearoa trophy from Stewart Mitchell. Photo / Getty
Due process, in their view, has not been followed and tensions were subsequently escalated by comments made by outgoing NZR chair Brent Impey, who branded NZRPA president and former All Blacks captain David Kirk "disingenuous" in a radio interview.
There was also widespread hurt and anger in the playing ranks when Impey went on to allude to player greed being at the heart of their objection to doing a deal with Silver Lake and that they would be damaging the community game if they continued to oppose it.
NZRPA subsequently angered NZR by leaking an alternative funding proposal to the media first – an IPO backed by major institutions, high net worth individuals and mum and dad investors - and Mitchell now enters the fray with a distinct choice on how to play his hand.
There is the status quo option of staying resolute on the party line that there is no viable capital raise alternative to Silver Lake.
Mitchell coming in hard and strong behind the NZR executive team to re-affirm the commitment to Silver Lake would serve as a strong endorsement that the board has no doubt that all the necessary due diligence was conducted to eliminate an IPO as a viable, workable option.
But such a path will also see NZR remain estranged from the NZRPA and no closer to finding a way through the impasse they have currently reached.
New NZ Rugby chair Stewart Mitchell. Photo / Getty
If nothing else, the players feel they need to be heard and therefore, the alternative path is for Mitchell to usher in a new approach where the Silver Lake deal is effectively put into cold storage and NZR and NZRPA engage in a fresh process to collaboratively work through all the potential funding mechanisms having mutually declared their bottom lines and non-negotiables.
Such an approach won't necessarily mean the Silver Lake deal has to die. It may be that both parties reach a mutual conclusion that it is in fact the right offer for New Zealand rugby, but it seems inevitable now that no agreement will ever be reached until there is a restoration of trust and goodwill and that to get there, the whole process of re-financing the game has to start from the beginning.
But restoring good relations with NZRPA is not the only priority item for Mitchell.
The provincial unions have voted unanimously in favour of doing a deal with Silver Lake and have re-affirmed that commitment since the NZRPA made their alternative IPO offer.
However, unanimous support for the Silver Lake deal should not be read as there being unanimous confidence in NZR's board.
The two are not mutually exclusive and it is understood that all 26 unions met with the NZR board after the Annual General Meeting on April 29 in Wellington.
At that meeting, a number of unions expressed that they wanted to see greater proof of cohesion in decision-making from the board.
There were concerns that the board was not always unified in its approach, something that is unlikely to have been alleviated by the 5-4 vote in favour of appointing Mitchell chair ahead of the other candidate, Bailey Mackey.
The last few months have not reflected well on the wider New Zealand rugby fraternity but there is now reason to believe that a new era can begin – one where key relationships are restored and all the major partners become aligned around a unity of purpose.
