Northland want 2011 deadline

UNITED FRONT: Northland coach Bryce Woodward is pleading for a stay of execution.

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Northland coach Bryce Woodward is pleading for a stay of execution, believing any changes to the Air New Zealand Cup should be delayed until 2011 when the World Cup will force a reduced format anyway.

Northland look to be one of the provinces on Death Row along with Counties-Manukau, Manawatu and Tasman as they await the impending axe from the New Zealand Rugby Union next month.

But talk continues to swirl around rugby's underworld of the NZRU board members having second thoughts over enforcing the changes because of a groundswell of grassroots support. A delay might be a convenient option.

"Personally I would be delighted if they deferred it for a year," Woodward told Sunday News. "They are going to have to do something quite different in World Cup year so maybe that's the year to try something that is different and shorter to see if it has appeal going forward."

World Cup rules prevent the hosts conducting a major competition at the same time as rugby's biggest tournament, meaning New Zealand have to cram an awful lot into 2011, including the expanded Super 15 for the first time.

"That's an ideal opportunity to experiment a bit. They will have everyone's buy-in to experiment because of the World Cup," Woodward suggested. Meanwhile the agonising wait continues. The drawn-out process is having an affect on the endangered provinces retaining players for next year as they wonder whether they will be involved in the status quo of the Air New Zealand Cup or dropped to a six-team Division One.

"I think one of the problems is they have made a decision and announced it's going to be done on December 10. Well, if they think that's sufficient time to adequately prepare for the following season they are sadly wrong.

"It is an issue for some of the players. Some of the Super 14 players are saying, `what do my Super 14 coaches think about all this?' Some are saying what will be, will be and have thrown their backs behind the players' association and saying if there is a second division, it will be meaningful and `our job is to get straight back up'.

"I guess everyone gets nervous with a bit of fear of the unknown. It is a struggle but it's not complete Armageddon out there."

Woodward felt it ironic the changes come just as the 14-team competition was bedding in.

"I think a lot of provinces have now cut their costs to fit. They aren't in the financial strife they were. Things are tight but that's as much to do with the economy as anything.

"Rather than overspending to prove yourself, I think everyone has pretty much cut their cloth. So at the end of the day it's a lot more sustainable model than it was."

Woodward believes a lot of heartache could have been spared if a more simple process had been used than the convoluted system that ranks unions on and off the field to find the four victims.

"The bottom line is I disagree with the criteria," he said. "If they are going to reduce it, the criteria should be if you are solvent you're in the game and if you're not, you are out. At the end of that process it's the top teams that stay and the bottom teams drop out.

"I know we finished 13th but we are solvent. So if the others aren't, then see you later."

The NZRU has boxed itself into a corner with the expansion of Super Rugby to 15 teams, meaning a squeeze on the playing window for the Air New Zealand Cup.

"In terms of our game and our grassroots, it doesn't make sense," Woodward said, acknowledging the changes were based on a financial model that Super Rugby and Tri-Nations offered to the broadcasters.

But he suggested that outside of the main centres there was more loyalty to the local unions than their Super Rugby franchises.

Woodward coached Northland in 2002 and then concentrated on the New Zealand under-21s. When he returned to domestic rugby's showpiece this season on a two-year deal with the Taniwha, he found the competition significantly improved.

"The standard has risen dramatically in that time," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News