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Highlanders and Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Richard Reid has been in the hot seat for a year. It has been no cushy ride, with both the Highlanders and Otago struggling on the field, the union battling to regain financial ground, and uncertainty over the future. Reid offers his observations on his first 12 months.
It has now been a year since I started this job. Time flies when you are having fun, so the saying goes, and a job at the Otago Rugby Football Union needs to be viewed as fun. We do, after all, work in an area that a heck of a lot of Kiwis would like to be involved in.
Fun is something that should always be associated with any sport; it should be the underlying reason we do what we do. Sometimes I think we miss this point.
During my first year I have endeavoured to be open and honest, a regular written and oral communicator; be available, get out and about, engage the ORFU and the Highlanders franchise partners, staff and boards and spend a lot of my time meeting and listening to people.
In short, figuring out where we are now and where we have to go. I have had no shortage of advice along the way; plenty of people have a passion for rugby and all seem to be interested in the fortunes of the Otago and the Highlanders.
Having worked in sports administration for seven years now, one of the prerequisites is to have a thick skin. No matter how hard one tries, one is inevitably accused of not doing something well enough, and this comes with the territory. However, it would be a sad day if people weren't entitled to their own opinions.
The following are some of the comments made to me by Otago and Highlanders stakeholders, media, staff, etc in November 2007.—
• Disconnected with the rugby public.
• Arrogant.
• People were feeling under-valued.
• Communication was poor.
• Finances needed better management.
• Relationship-building was required.
• We needed a better team (Otago and Highlanders).
There is a common theme among these comments. All those I spoke to thought we weren't doing a very good job in many facets of the business. There wasn't anything mentioned to me that I didn't already know, or at least suspect, and a large part of this was why I was interested in taking the job.
One of the common issues that arises when working within sport is that the public perception of the business is influenced by the success, or otherwise, of your top team(s), in our case the Otago Air NZ Cup side and the Highlanders.
It is the classic case of perception becoming reality, as often it is the only intersection that people have with the business. There is little point in me dwelling on this; it is just the way it is.
What have we done? Taking all of the above into account, how are we doing from where I sit?
We have endeavoured to communicate regularly through a series of updates to all stakeholders. They might not always agree with the message but I am sure that they now have the information that allows them to clearly understand what we are doing and where we are going.
Arrogance is a perception held by others; rugby as a sport is often accused of such. Respect is a word I like a lot; we have tried hard to rectify this perception of arrogance. Despite a vocal minority, I would say we are doing better than we were. Not perfect, but better.
Whether they be staff or members of our wide-ranging volunteer base, people like to feel valued. Again, we are better than we were, but still have a way to go.
Most businesses are at some stage accused of being poor communicators, and in our case the criticism was probably justified. I do not think that is the case now; we work hard at getting the right information into the public domain.
I accept there are some who will never think what we do is enough, and that we should play out all our negotiations and discussions through the Letters to the Editor column, or invite the media to board meetings. Clearly this is not going to happen.
There are, as in all businesses, areas which are confidential and/or commercially sensitive. However, there is no drip-feeding of information which is cleverly crafted to confuse the public. If the phone rings, I answer it; if someone sends me an email, I reply to it. It is as simple as that.
Over the past two years we have lost $1.5 million; a lot of money in anyone's language. In simple terms we have spent more than we have earned and have borrowed against our asset base (Carisbrook) to fund the business.
I make no apologies for trying to rectify this and get our finances under control; we have taken out about $900,000 out of expenses in 2008. What this does do is limit our options, whether it involves employing a club rugby administrator, a rugby development officer, or signing some players.
We simply have to learn to live within our means and clearly this impacts upon the business in terms of what we have done over the recent past. As Roger Douglas once famously said when talking about social welfare, if throwing money at the problem was the answer, we'd have no problem. There are some obvious parallels that can be drawn.
Relationships and the way they are managed take time. People don't know me; I am not from here, etc. All are a work in progress. Two good examples come to mind: the NZRU and the DCC. We have worked hard on both and the output that we have achieved has been considerable.
The DCC was fantastic in its support of the successful staging of the Springbok test in July, and the NZRU has been very supportive of all that we are attempting to do, as it recognises the importance of this part of the country in terms of rugby in New Zealand.
Without the support of these two bodies we would not have been rewarded with a test against France in Dunedin in June next year.
When people talk about needing a better team, what I think they really mean is that they want better results; everything flows from good results. I understand clearly what our supporters feel in relation to the playing results of both Otago and the Highlanders over the recent past. Without doubt, they need to improve. The public has been starved of success; it is overdue.
As you are probably aware, when I arrived we had 35 contracted players (which could increase during the season depending upon selection and/or injury); we had 26 (the minimum number) at the start of the season and as the season progressed, a further five were signed following good performances at either club rugby or B team level.
There is no question that mistakes have been made in regard to our recruitment and retention (and we are not alone in that), but all I can do is deal in actualities; who had contracts for 2008 and what we do for 2009 and beyond.
This is obviously happening, given recent announcements about players who have signed for the ORFU or have transferred in order to be available for selection for the Highlanders.
Where are we going?
The NZRU has clearly signalled as to the future of the game in New Zealand. The ORFU needs to heed what is happening and continue to adapt while retaining our local flavour and identity. The ORFU has on three occasions made submissions to the review processes in and around the shape of the Air NZ Cup. This is all a matter of public record.
The shape of the Super 14 from 2010 is the one missing piece of the jigsaw. However, without a doubt the three provincial unions (Otago, North Otago and Southland) need to be joined at the hip to ensure the continuity of professional rugby within the Super 14 (or whatever it morphs into). We are not big enough to go it alone, and I know that all who are informed on this are in agreement, unpalatable as it may be to some.
Shortly we will begin work on a comprehensive review of rugby within Otago; this has been postponed since April this year as we were awaiting the outcome of the recently completed Air NZ Cup review. This will encompass both professional and amateur rugby.
The board and staff of the ORFU and the Highlanders are aware of our strengths and weaknesses; we are also aware of what needs to be done and how we think it should be achieved. It would be naive of any reader to think otherwise despite differences in methodology and timing.
I was in awe of the response and passion from rugby supporters before, during and after the Springbok test. If we can harness a part of that for the betterment of rugby south of the Waitaki, we would all go a long way toward getting a bit more fun in our lives.