NZ Rugby faces tough search for CEO to lead both pro and amateur sides

NZ Herald

5 days ago

They will need knowledge of media rights negotiations, an understanding of digital content and its pathway to monetisation, and they will have to be capable of managing relationships with some of the world's largest consumer brands.
But this is only part of the job, not all of it. There's another side entirely, which is presiding over the community game – selling rugby to the masses.
That's an ambassadorial job – running a never-ending PR campaign to promote the holistic benefits of playing rugby: the resilience it breeds, the networks it forges, the joy it brings.
It's also, though, a political tightrope that constantly must be walked, managing provincial unions and other stakeholders to ensure there is harmony in the ecosystem.
Departing New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson. Photo / Photosport
It's a job that requires someone to be as comfortable in gumboots on a muddy sideline as they are in leather loafers around the board table.
The search will likely begin in a few weeks, once a global recruitment agency has been approved to conduct it, and NZR chair David Kirk has given prospective candidates clear guidance that this is a job that will straddle both the professional and amateur worlds of rugby.
'There will be a lot of people who would love to run a global sporting brand – the All Blacks' global sporting brand,' he says.
'But they are not coming just to do that. It is way more than that because you have the community element to it.
'They are coming to run New Zealand community rugby. People with only a professional sporting background coming thinking they are running a professional sport will not be appropriate.'
Kirk is cognitive that, arguably, he's one of the few people who has the relevant experience across the variety of disciplines the job will entail, but laughed off any suggestion that as the chair of the board, he's in the wrong role.
He's not at the right stage in his life to be a full-time executive – so if not him, is there anyone with a similar breadth of experience that presents as an obvious candidate?
There are a few who have potential – people who tick a few but not all the boxes.
Former All Black Conrad Smith has a deep understanding of the high-performance landscape, having won two World Cups and working for the International Rugby Players' Association, while he also volunteers as a grassroots referee in Taranaki.
As a qualified lawyer, he's bright, engaging and worldly, but he doesn't have experience in the corporate world managing or leading a complex organisation.
New Zealand All Blacks centre Conrad Smith in action at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Former ACC chief executive Scott Pickering was on the shortlist to take the NZR job back in 2019 but lost out to incumbent Mark Robinson.
He's an experienced director/executive, but isn't steeped in community rugby, although he is currently on the board of Bowls New Zealand.
One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris has the corporate experience – he was also the chief executive of TV3 – but while he's a self-declared passionate sports and rugby follower, there's a question mark about how attuned he'd be to what is really going on at the community level.
Former Sky chief executive Martin Stewart negotiated the current broadcast deal for the pay TV broadcaster and has worked in executive roles for the Football Association in England. But would he want to return to living in New Zealand having left the country in early 2021?
And the issue of living in New Zealand, and knowing the country's relationship with rugby and the All Blacks is a critical part of the consideration.
The All Blacks are a global sporting brand with a uniquely Kiwi ethos, and the 'gosh, I was just lucky out there' understated charm of Beauden Barrett is a million miles away from the trash-talking, hype-it-up narratives and characters that dominate American sports and indeed football.
A non-Kiwi may battle to get their head around the All Blacks culture and hiring a New Zealander who has been working overseas is fraught with challenges, as evidenced by the fact Craig Fenton, who had been in Europe for 20 years, only lasted 11 months in his role as head of New Zealand Rugby Commercial.
It is, therefore, going to be an incredibly difficult role to fill, which is why Kirk says that it may be that the board takes a broader view, and that it might look at balancing the impending appointments of the chief executive, chief commercial officer and chief financial officer, This could ensure the executive team has all the required skill-sets and experiences, rather than trying to find a unicorn.
'We will probably go to one search consultant for all three roles, but the CEO will be the leading search,' he says.
'But we will also run the CFO and CCO a bit behind because ideally we will have identified the CEO and they will be in a situation where they will be able to take part in the process for the appointment of the CFO and CCO.
'We are looking to balance the requirements across the three roles and it may not be possible to find one person who can do it all.
'There are not many people who have had that broad experience that is just a fact so we have to make sure we have a balanced senior leadership team that can meet all requirements.'
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand's most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.