Jack Mesley

And I was out there with Debbie Sorensen and got a real feel for, you know, obviously the tough week it's been.

And us, like everyone else, our first and the priority is thinking about those individuals that are impacted by the news.

And the news is that the owners of Moana Pacifica have said that, you know, they can no longer fund the team going forward.

But right now, what they are trying to do is find new owners who will come in and take the franchise forward.

So from a competition point of view, you know, we are very supportive of that process, very supportive of Moana Pacifica trying to find new owners and we will do everything we can to support that.

So that's where we're at.

Our main priority is, as I said, make sure that the people impacted are looked after.

It was great to see them and their fans put on such a good show on Friday.

You can see the emotion that's going to run out and they've given every assurance that regardless of what happens with new ownership or not, they are going to play through the balance of the season and give it everything they've got.

one of the good things about the news being out there is that it's being broadcast all around the world.

So if there are interested parties and you can see from the rhetoric out there and, and all the sentiment in, in social media, if there are interested parties, then, you know, this gives them an opportunity to come forward, speak with Moana Pacifica, speak with New Zealand rugby to see if we can keep this franchise going.

Yeah, that's right.

I mean, these are very expensive businesses to run and the owners of Moana Pacifica have done a wonderful job in funding them for the last couple of years at a deficit, you know, and that's a massive undertaking from them and they should be congratulated and thanked for their work in that space.

But where does this funding come from?

You know, that comes from us generating revenue.

And we have to be an entertainment product that drives revenue.

And that's been our focus.

And I think you've seen the product improve over the last couple of years.

You've seen the match day experience, how much work the clubs have put into that.

Things are getting better, but the finances sort of lag the improvements with the product.