As revealed in the Herald on Sunday yesterday, Eric Watson has agreed to sell the NRL club to the trust, which is effectively an arm of the Auckland Rugby League.
The deal is contingent on documentation being finalized, and still needs to be approved by the NRL, but that is expected to be rubber stamped.
A formal announcement will be made later this week, once financial settlement has taken place.
Now the Herald can reveal that Autex Industries will take a 33% share in the partnership that is being set up to run the club.
It brings a nice sense of symmetry, as the Avondale-based manufacturing group, which has since spread across the globe, were the first major sponsor of league at a national level in this country, when they came on board to back the Kiwis in 1981.
They were aligned with the growth and success of the sport throughout the early to mid-80s, as New Zealand started to beat Australia and Great Britain on a regular basis.
Former Autex CEO David Robinson also played a key role behind the scenes in getting New Zealand players on professional deals in England, with a number going to play for the likes of Hull, Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan.
Autex is now overseen by his son Mark, and the company has been associated with both the NZRL and the Warriors in sponsorship agreements this decade.
The company will be expected to their business skills to the table, as well as a sense of corporate guardianship.
Carlaw Park Heritage Trust is a separate entity from ARL, though there are blurred lines.
The Trust has six trustees, with two appointed by the ARL, two independents and two life members of the ARL. Cameron McGregor is the chair of both entities.
The Trust will be responsible for the governance decisions around the Warriors, and while the ARL will be consulted, it won't be a case of the 32 clubs around the region all having their say.
Roles are yet to be defined, including those of former Kiwis coach Graham Lowe and ex-Warriors CEO Wayne Scurrah, but the leaders of the ARL bid have apparently assured the key stakeholders in the club there won't be any immediate radical changes, and the status quo will be maintained.
With the ARL backed bid prevailing, it means the Tongan-American consortium headed by former Hawaiian politician Richard Fale will have to focus on other areas.
They brought a whole lot of new ideas to the table, with some grand plans around new media, offshore games and stadium renovations but in the end have been beaten to the punch by the local group.
But Fale is confident his consortium will achieve their goal soon of investing in an Australasian sports franchise.
"There is a lot cooking there," Fale told the Herald. "Something is going to open up – whether it is NRL or Super Rugby. We have the resources, know-how and capital to make this happen and it is only a matter of time."
Fale added that he has been in "positive discussion" with some rugby franchises, and also indicated there could be an opportunity with another NRL club on the horizon.
"Things are moving," said Fale. "We have made a lot of progress, we've done the groundwork and we are determined to make it happen and we know it will succeed."
