Last updated 05:00, June 3 2018
PETER MEECHAM/ STUFF
Warriors chair Cameron McGregor believes Graham Lowe's experience is needed on the Warriors board.
Warriors chair Cameron McGregor believes Graham Lowe's experience is needed on the Warriors board.
Graham Lowe has been rebuffed in his attempt to get onto the Warriors board, but club chairman Cameron McGregor still wants him on.
The former Kiwis and Queensland coach as well as Sea Eagles CEO, was brought in by McGregor to help with the purchase of the Warriors from Eric Watson.
The NRL club was bought by the Carlaw Heritage Trust, with Autex Industries having a minor share.
McGregor wanted Lowe to be one of the Trusts' representatives, but that move was shot down by the trustees.
McGregor, who'll be the new chair of the Warriors hasn't given up on having Lowe involved in the club.
"Although the Carlaw Heritage Trust has now picked their four board members, that doesn't mean to say he can't be on the board," McGregor said.
"There is still an independent position and Autex are still to tell us who their board members are as well.
"I know some people are saying Graham is yesterday's man, but during the whole process of purchasing the Warriors, his contacts in the game and especially in the NRL, and his knowledge of the football side of the game was extremely helpful in our due diligence process.
"So, yes I was disappointed when the Carlaw Heritage Trust didn't pick him as one of the board members, because I think that sort of experience around the board was important.
"Regardless of whether he's a board member or not, I'll still be asking for his advice and this won't stop me using it.
"It would have been nice to have him on the board, but I haven't given up totally and that's something we'll be looking at over the next week or two, like who we appoint as an independent member."
The Warriors will be made up of four people put forward by the Trust, two from Autex Industries and one independent.
McGregor has been overseas for a couple of weeks since the acquisition of the Warriors, but now back in the country he wants to start work on his vision of how the club should look.
But he says he intends to stay on as chairman of Carlaw Heritage Trust and remain as Auckland Rugby League chair until his current term ends in October 2019.
"I got re-elected again in October unopposed and indicated it would be my last term," he said.
"I've been chairman of Auckland Rugby League for over 15 years, so it's time I move on, but I want to leave Auckland Rugby League as strong as I can.
"I think fact that I'm wearing three hats at the moment is good for the game, because we're trying to establish principals at the Warriors, so having a good grassroots background helps in us doing all of that."
Meanwhile, McGregor has addressed some of the financial details of the Trusts' purchase of the Warriors. He confirmed that it has had to borrow money to buy the club, but that amount has been reduced.
"The Trust owns a whole heap of shares in a thing called Property For Industry, so while we have borrowed some money to buy the Warriors, it was a matter of the trustees seeing the Warriors as one investment replacing another.
"They've made a decision recently to sell some of those shares and we'll end up with a small manageable loan.
"It's not going to be a huge loan and the income from the shares we have left, will more than cover the interest on the loan."
The Warriors were bought for a reported $18million and a question that's been raised a few times is what happens if more money needs to be invested.
McGregor says they intend to build up the amount of money the Warriors have and be close to being in the same situation as the Broncos, who have $18 million sitting in the bank for a rainy day.
"One of the weaknesses of the Warriors model we've inherited is the fact that the club is poorly capitalised," McGregor said.
"We're not going to be taking any money out of the Warriors, we're happy to leave any profits sitting in the place and it's our intention to build up a good capital base,
"So if at any time we wanted to spend some money on something, or we had a year where we didn't make what we thought we were going to make, then it's not a matter of dipping into our pockets every five seconds and the club an absorb that."
Eventually McGregor would like the Warriors to be in a position where they can pay a dividend back to their shareholders and that money could be invested into the Auckland clubs.
"The first priority as far as the Warriors board is concerned, is going to be getting a team to win the title," he said.
"But what I've been saying to the management of the Warriors was that before they had a narrow focus in the game.
"Now they've got to realise that they're part of a much bigger organisation and they must have a broader focus that covers Auckland Rugby League as well.
"So whenever they're making decisions, they've got to do what's best for the Warriors, but they've also got to have an eye on what's best for the game."