I can imagine there will be some disappointed fans out there but in the end, common sense does seem to have prevailed, doesn’t it?
In the last-minute Hail Mary dash to try to save Moana Pasifika, NZ Rugby, it turns out, have ended up being the grown-ups in the room - simply saying no. This is not going to work; this is taking too long.
Apparently, it’s predominantly because of the money. The people trying to save Moana Pasifika just could not pony up enough to support the team - not up front because you need heaps of money to get something like this off the ground (and that’s essentially what would have been happening), and not enough from ongoing revenue.
Which, when you think about it, is exactly the same situation we’ve just been through with Moana Pasifika. We did not need to repeat this. The people behind the existing team ended up running out of money - and who ended up carrying the can? The long-suffering New Zealand taxpayer, to the tune of at least $2.7 million. And when you add it all together, it was a lot more than that.
Now, fans of the Moana Pasifika idea don’t need to lose heart altogether because I think the prediction we made on the show might yet bear out: Moana Pasifika may be dead for 2027 but not necessarily for 2028.
I’m hearing there is still a willingness to grant a licence for a team like this based somewhere in the Pacific. It could be a Samoan–Tongan concept, with those Governments coming together to resuscitate the team. Maybe it’s based out of those islands. Maybe it could even be a team based out of Hawaii, where there is apparently quite a bit of money, a lack of professional teams and a favourable time zone for us.
So the dream is not dead.
And actually, it’s not a bad dream - because apparently the Fijian Drua are the most commercially successful team in the Super Rugby competition, given that they essentially have a monopoly on Fijian sponsorship and audience.
The dream is a good one, as long as the New Zealand taxpayer isn't the one always funding it. So thank goodness we've averted that.
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