Bates's husband, Craig, also rallied behind his "distraught" wife yesterday as the fall-out from the Valerie Adams affair continued.
Bates, New Zealand's athletics section manager, was named by chef de mission Dave Currie as the person at fault for the clerical error that led to Adams's name being left off the shot put start list.
"Where were the checks and balances?" Brimble asked.
"What is the role of Athletics New Zealand in making sure that all the athletes that qualified were registered?
"You can't just hang it all on one person. It is not just one person's responsibility. Yes, there was a slip-up, but there needs to be a collective responsibility."
Bates, a life member of Athletics Otago, has been a coach and sports administrator for more than 20 years and is noted for her attention to detail.
"She has done a superb job and that should not be forgotten," Brimble said.
"She has a reputation for being a superb administrator. The success of high performance sport, based in Dunedin and covering the South Island, would not have been as successful without her administrative skills."
Craig Bates said his wife did not want a drawn-out inquiry into who was responsible for the error. She quickly admitted her mistake.
"Raylene's made an honest mistake and she admits to it. She was terribly distraught about it all," her husband said.
"Raylene's impeccable with all her administration. She's incredibly passionate about the sport. She has done this work voluntarily for years." Raylene Bates held a similar section manager role with the athletics team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and at the Delhi Commonwealth Games two years ago.
Athletics Otago life member Ron Cain also lent his support to Bates.
"It's not like her. She's always been very efficient in everything she's done as long as I've known her," Cain said.
"I've been on committees with Raylene and her efficiency is A1. We should stand by someone like Raylene who has dedicated so many years to athletics administration."
More details of the fiasco emerged in London yesterday.
At about 3pm on Sunday, Adams discovered her name was missing from the start list for the following morning's qualifying rounds.
About three hours later, after meeting International Amateur Athletics Federation technical delegate Bill Bailey, Adams was reinstated. She received the all-clear at 6.15pm on Sunday night, about 25 hours before her event.
Bates had put entry forms in for six New Zealand athletes on April 1. They had to be filed by 9am on the day before each athlete's competition.
Bates had a policy of doing them at the same time. The following day, she went back and confirmed all had been accepted and signed off by the athletics desk.
When Currie saw the forms, the first three - for athletes competing on August 3, 4 and 5, heptathlete Sarah Cowley, 1500m runner Nick Willis and marathoner Kim Smith - had been fully filled in; the others, for August 6, 8 and 10, for Adams, 1500m runner Lucy van Dalen, decathlete Brent Newdick, javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar and 50km walker Quentin Rew, had not.
Boxes which required the word "yes" to be inserted were completed for the first group of athletes but left blank - indicating those athletes would not compete - for the other New Zealanders, including Adams.
Currie has quizzed Bates on what happened.
"There's no explicable, understandable, rational reason," he said.
"I've talked to her at length about that. She can't recall any reason. In her own mind, she was sure she'd done it."
He described Bates, who has attended several Olympic and Commonwealth Games in the role, as "very effective and efficient".
Currie, who is overseeing his final Games as team boss, accepted that "all things that happen in the team ultimately I am responsible for" but admitted he had not checked off the entries himself.
- Alistair McMurrran and David Leggat
