Steve Tew
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew will
arrive in Dunedin today but is not making any promises about
helping out the cash-strapped Otago union.
Mr Tew will meet Otago Rugby Football Union officials late
today to discuss the union's financial plight and a possible
course of action.
The NZRU appointed change manager Jeremy Curragh last month
after concerns about the financial state of the ORFU.
Mr Curragh is reviewing the union's accounts, with the union
set to post a loss of several hundred thousand dollars.
ORFU chairman Wayne Graham said last week the union was
unsure whether it could continue and needed to draw up a plan
to return to profit.
Mr Tew said it was too soon to talk of any major shake-ups at
the union, and he wanted a clear picture of what had happened
before any decisions were made.
Talk of the whole board being forced to resign was just
speculation at this stage, he said.
"We will have a better feel for what is happening once we get
down there. It is a bit early to talk about that [board
standing down].
Mr Curragh said last week past decisions by the union, which
may have appeared correct at the time, had come back to hurt
the union financially.
Mr Tew said unions had to live within their means, and the
NZRU had never bailed out any union.
"We bailed out the Highlanders but we could not see a better
way ahead there, though now we believe they are on the right
path.
"But we have never bailed out any union. They have all been
loans which have had to be repaid. It will be the same with
Otago, if it comes to that."
With many unions recording financial losses, Mr Tew admitted
it was hard going in the provinces.
"But you've got to remember these are the toughest economic
conditions we've had to face in the past 50 to 60 years and
it is not making it easy. We are dealing with a professional
sport in a very small country which is open to overseas
markets.
"We have sensibly drawn down from our reserves over the past
four or five years to help us out. But you can't keep drawing
down on them forever."
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