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Club shake up on the cards |
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Written by Site Admin
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007 |
By delivering a two division, 16-team club format in two year's time, the Manawatu board will effectively get what it originally wanted - an eight-team premier competition.
The eight top teams from next year's 12 sides will be the premier teams, if they fulfil other criteria.
To stave off a rebellion by endangered clubs, the union's directors have sensibly included a lifeline between the two divisions, promotion-relegation of one team up and one down halfway through the season and again at the end.
Club officials were appraised of the radical step on Monday evening.
Restructuring the senior competition has been a hot potato since Turbos coach Dave Rennie advocated eight teams last year to strengthen the game in the province.
Union chairman Tony Murphy said a lot of work went into the revamp and his board had devised a competition that is in the interests of everyone.
"It's always difficult to take into account every piece of the jigsaw that is club rugby but after much debate, the final decision by the board is definitely the best for this region," he said.
"It gives those on the fringes hope, it gives those planning for tomorrow help and those that are there or close to it some criteria to work towards to lift their long-term ability to deliver."
Murphy said there will be detractors and that's the nature of passionate sportspeople.
"But at the end of the day we had to show some leadership and do what we needed to fix a competition that was no longer delivering all that is needed.
"The final decision was unanimous and perhaps reflects the work done by our operational staff to ensure we had the facts and options presented to us. I believe that when everything is digested and understood, our clubs will also support the final position and our efforts to get this union back into full working order."
To be eligible for division one brings criteria. Each club must have a B and colts team from next year, while those in division two must have one back-up side but if promoted, must have two.
All premier coaches must be working towards a Level 2 New Zealand Rugby Union qualification.
Division one teams must aim to have a part-time or fulltime staff member by 2009 because the days of relying solely on volunteers to run clubs are numbered. The Manawatu union will subsidise a minimum of 10 hours a week for contract administration work to each premier 1 club with the club to match that.
Clubs will be paid a bonus for every new team they field next year in an effort to help develop more junior teams.
They must each have a plan to recruit secondary school leavers by the start of next year. That takes into account the limitations of country clubs.
Union chief executive Hadyn Smith said what he called "a long- term fix" was the most emotive decision the board had made during his reign.
"Our research into the health of our club system didn't make good reading," said Smith. "The MRU board was unanimous that this union had to take a leadership role and support our clubs in their ability to deliver a quality environment, on and off the field."
* The new competition won't involve clubs' second teams.
* Widening the greater competition to 16 teams might eventually allow clubs from outside Manawatu to apply to enter.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 11 June 2007 )
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