The Spirit have been denied promotion to the top-tier Premiership following a restructure of the Farah Palmer Cup.
Direen coached the Spirit to a convincing 37-12 win over Northland in the final of the Championship at Tahuna Park in September.
His team celebrated what they thought would be a return to the Premiership for the first time since 2021.
But that prize has been taken away, and Direen is upset.
"I’m pretty gutted, to be honest," he said.
"At no stage did we think that if we won that game, we wouldn’t be going up. It was only after the final that we heard whispers of it.
"It feels like an absolute slap in the face for everything we did last season. It cheapens the year that we had, to be honest."
New Zealand Rugby conducted a review into the FPC following the removal of the struggling Taranaki Whio.
Yesterday, it announced the competition would have two divisions of six teams in 2026, and it was bad news for Otago.
The Spirit will remain in the Championship division instead of being promoted, while Hawke’s Bay have been relegated to the Championship division.
NZR said the divisions had been determined through "structural changes and minimum standards, rather than playoff results".
"This approach ensures both balance and competitive integrity across the two pools."
NZR head of women’s high-performance Hannah Porter, who is a former Otago player, added the changes had been introduced to strengthen the FPC and ensure its long-term sustainability.
"These changes align with NZR’s focus on strengthening development pathways in the women’s game", Porter said.
"While this will be disappointing for the Otago Spirit, it is not a reflection of their commitment or performance."
Spirit captain Greer Muir was not convinced by that argument.
"Personally, I don’t think it’s strengthening at all", Muir said.
"I think it’s weakening it. It’s taking away opportunities from our girls and then forcing us to play those same teams again."
Asked if the team had fought the decision, Direen said they had left that to the Otago Rugby Football Union.
"I know all of the [Spirit] management team are prepared to do whatever it takes to back these girls.
"Because I know the girls are feeling pretty gutted about it all. And especially the older girls that were part of what’s taken ... years to accomplish, to be honest.
"And we accomplished it in pretty good style."
Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Richard Kinley was more diplomatic.
“This was a thorough process and, while we are naturally disappointed with the immediate outcome, we remain optimistic," Kinley said.
"The changes being introduced will help to grow the women’s game, and we look forward to supporting our Otago Spirit team next season."
Direen’s comments suggest the opposite is true. He feels he will have a tough sales pitch trying to lure players back next season.
"I think we’ll lose players," he said.
"I think it’ll be detrimental to Otago rugby. I think they’ve [NZR] completely misread how women’s rugby in Otago has been tracking. So, yeah, it feels like a pretty poor decision."
A similar situation occurred in 2017-18, when Auckland stayed in the same pool despite where they had placed in the previous season.
The standard promotion–relegation model between the Premiership and Championship will return from next season, ensuring that on-field performance again determines movement between divisions.
Farah Palmer Cup
2026 divisions
Premiership: Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Counties-Manukau, Manawatū, Waikato.
Championship: Hawke’s Bay, North Harbour, Northland, Otago, Tasman, Wellington.
