Midfield back Aaron Bancroft is also considering following halfback Toby Morland, fullback Glen Horton, lock Ross Kennedy, five-eighth Dan Snee and leading club loose forward Matt Clutterbuck out the door.
Otago Rugby Football Union marketing manager Chris Green confirmed yesterday he will be leaving the union next month, while academy manager Ian Arthur has resigned and will also finish in his role next month.
Bancroft, who was the leader of the backs in the Otago side last year, said yesterday he was in contract negotiations with the union and they had yet to reach a successful conclusion.
He did not have a contract with Otago at present and did not make the Highlanders this year.
[comment caption=What does the exodus say about Otago rugby?]Bancroft (24) has just returned from Rome, where he played for a New Zealand invitational side which won a sevens tournament.
Bancroft has played 17 games for Otago in the past two seasons, and has also played for New Zealand Colts.
He will not play for his club side, Harbour, tomorrow.
Green (41) said after nearly five years in the job it was time to find something new to do.
He said marketing jobs had a limited shelf life and he was coming to the end of his at the union.
He did not have a job to go to and would finish on July 10.
Green said the job was a real roller coaster, with some incredible ups and downs.
Some of the highlights had been the test matches in the past two years, the Highlanders game played in Palmerston North this year, and the match this year against the Crusaders, where the New Zealand band Shihad played after the match.
He said the low point was any time the team lost.
"It does help when a team is winning, but crowds not coming because the team is losing is no excuse. You've just got to be innovative and come up with things that will get them along," he said.
"Look at the English football premiership. They have teams which haven't won anything for years and they still get big crowds."
He acknowledged society had changed a lot over the past 10 to 15 years and going to the rugby was not as important to many people, particularly students, any more.
He said it was a tough decision to resign, especially after the euphoria of the test match last week.
Arthur (54) has been in his role for 11 years and said the time felt right to move on.
He felt he would not be doing the job at retirement age, so now was the best time to leave. He will finish on July 17.
Arthur said the academy was doing a good job and nearly every player named in the Otago squad yesterday had some involvement with the academy.
Players are at the academy for three years and, once they leave, are supposed to be capable of playing for the Otago side.
He said players who were at the academy or who had been through it, were easy to spot in club rugby, as they were more advanced.
All Blacks such as Adam Thomson and James Ryan had been through the academy.
Many players who had been through the academy simply did not make the next step to first-class rugby in Otago, as their path was blocked, and they went elsewhere.
He said it was not true that rugby players did not come to the University of Otago any more, but he felt the standard of school rugby in Dunedin could be better.
Arthur was moving into a business, but he was still finalising details and declined to say where he was going.
Neither ORFU role has yet been advertised.
With 14 academies across the country, Arthur felt it could be time for their structure to be changed and a franchise focus to be introduced.
ORFU chief executive Richard Reid is overseas and union chairman Ron Palenski declined to comment on staffing matters.
