Warriors' secret videotape

[Super Cronk]

Warriors' secret videotape- Stuff.co.nz

Mark Hotchin, a co-owner and director of the New Zealand Warriors rugby league league club, says stunning revelations in today's Sunday Star-Times are one of the reasons Mick Watson is no longer chief executive at the club.

The Sunday Star-Times carry dialogue from a secretly-taped negotiation between Warriors' owners Cullen Sports and leading IRB rugby officials.

The Star-Times showed the video to New Zealand Rugby League chairman Sel Pearson, whose organisation is a shareholder in the Warriors, Auckland Rugby League boss Cameron McGregor and former Kiwi and media commentator Dean Lonergan.

They were blistering in their condemnation of Cullen's behaviour, calling on the National Rugby League to investigate the organisation's right to hold a franchise license and calling on Maurice Kidd to resign as chairman.

Their anger is over revelations on the tape that Cullen intended to permanently move its leading Warriors' stars across to rugby as part of a pledge to make union its "No1 priority".

The tape was recorded in February last year at the height of negotiations between Cullen Sport and the International Rugby Board to get a Pasifika franchise into the Super 14 and to play tests.

The widely-publicised campaign ended up foundering after nervous IRB executives began to feel the heat from irritated NZRU bosses Jock Hobbs and Chris Moller. The IRB apologised to the union and Sanzar, claiming discussions with Cullen were preliminary and conceptual only.


The videotape, filmed by Cullen, but with leading IRB executives seemingly oblivious to the fact their conversation was being recorded, proves otherwise. IRB senior management, led by chief executive Mike Miller, are recorded in discussions over shareholding and in planning to work with Cullen to create the Polynesian side.

Hotchin played down the tape.

"I don't think there was ever an intention to do it. You've got one person's comments, which are not reflective of the club and that's probably one of the reasons he (Mick Watson) is no longer at the club," Hotchin told the Star-Times.

Hotchin said while the parties talked in detail, that's what any prospective business partners would do.

"They were taking it to a point where it could then be put up to the owners and the IRB council as to whether or not it would even work.

"In the business community we do this every time we look at a deal whether we're going to go through with it or not. This was a very long way from a done deal."

Hotchin avowed he and majority owner Eric Watson were dedicated to the Warriors.

"The intention was always to put our energy into a rugby league team, that hasn't changed. Certain members of the rugby league club looked at some other options, one of which was the potential opportunity to do something in the rugby world. That proved not to be the case and we're back with our core business of rugby league."

[Cliffy GC]

disgraceful not surprising really we are talkin about a club
who back stabbed the arl before they had even played a game in 1995

The have no place being in our comp tbh

[DIEHARD]

They had better tread carefully or we'll pull their License. ;]

This is disgracefully and treasonous.

The NRL and NZRL would not be happy at all about this. And my previous sentence was a massive understatement, their blood would be boiling.

The Warriors can't continue to be the sole standard bearer of rugby league in New Zealand, we need the Southern Orcas in.