The provincial unions are in a stoush with New Zealand Rugby over the structure the governance of the game will take.
It is a difficult time for the game’s administrators.
Earlier this week, Peter McCormack and Warren Moffat were confirmed as chairman and deputy chairman respectively of the Otago Rugby Football Union at its first meeting since the annual meeting in late March.
McCormack is in his third year in the role and told the Otago Daily Times there was a lot going on in the game nationally, but Otago was focused on the regional issues.
One of those issues is potentially finding a new home.
Otago rugby is based at Forsyth Barr Stadium. But that could change if plans to develop the stadium go ahead.
Dunedin Stadium Property Ltd pitched an ambitious plan in 2021 to redevelop the venue. Plans included building a hotel and a sports bar overlooking the ground.
With that in mind, the ORFU put in a submission in the Dunedin City Council’s 2024-25 annual plan in support of the development of a central sports hub at Logan Park.
"The stadium are wishing to develop that area further and we wouldn’t be part of that," McCormack said.
That development might be some time off and may never go ahead, he said.
"But long term we probably don’t see a future at the stadium, but that is not to say we wouldn’t play rugby there."
In the ORFU’s submission, it wrote a shared administration facility housed at Logan Park "would see a closer working relationship develop across codes, a potential sharing of resources and ultimately a more effective use of the playing surfaces and facilities located" at the venue.
As for the bigger national issues, McCormack said the ORFU was still developing its position.
NZR will hold a special general meeting at the end of the month to vote on two governance reform proposals.
The unions are understood to be in favour of one proposal and the NZR the other.
It has been billed as a power struggle. NZR chairwomen Dame Patsy Reddy has vowed to resign should the national body’s preferred option be voted down.
"We have not discussed it as a board or taken a final position because we have not seen the final proposals," McCormack said, adding he believes the provincial unions and NZR are closer together than what has been portrayed in the media.
"It is 90% there. It is just a couple of bits in the middle they can’t agree on."
