Vodafone Warriors chairman and owner Rob Croot, CEO Cameron George, head coach Stephen Kearney and captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have today reached out to members to update them on the club's position in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and New Zealand's lockdown.
Dear Friends
We trust this finds you and your families well as we near the halfway point of the Alert Level Four lockdown.
We're sure you must be feeling the same as we do right now – desperately missing the NRL season and concerned about what the future may hold for our club and the great game.
Today, we should be celebrating a great win in front of a big crowd following our first 2020 home game at Mount Smart Stadium against the West Tigers over the weekend.
Instead it seems like there is nothing but uncertainty in our world right now and this past fortnight has been the most difficult in our club’s history. Since the decision to suspend the 2020 season we’ve been in survival mode. The challenges we now face as a club are significant and together with our owners, our players and our staff, we have had to adapt to the reality of the situation we now face.
Over the past week, our management and our owners have been considering measures to help navigate us through this challenging period with the aim being to position the club to be stronger on its return - whenever that might be.
You will have seen that the NRL and Rugby League Players' Association have agreed the terms of a deal that will see a substantial decrease in player earnings but will help protect the long-term future of the game.
We know people in the community are hurting, much like our staff, players and coaches. This pandemic is much bigger than our club, the NRL or sport more broadly.
But we also know this club - your club – plays a big part in your lives and that’s why we are absolutely committed to ensuring the Vodafone Warriors have many more years of thrilling our members and fans ahead.
We appreciate you have many unanswered questions about your membership but until we have certainty on the 2020 competition, we ask for your patience and understanding.
Once we know what shape the remainder of the 2020 season might look like, we will be constructing a range of alternatives to give you as much flexibility as possible and will act on your instructions as quickly as we can.
We also acknowledge that the lockdown has led to delays in the delivery of membership packs for new members. Please be assured that your pack has been ordered and will be delivered once our supplier is back up and running.
We share in the optimism of the NRL about seeing the Vodafone Warriors out there in action again this year and there is in-depth planning being undertaken now by the NRL to ready the game for a return once it is safe to do so.
It gives us hope that 2020 isn’t wasted. Our team is focused on being ready to go when the competition resumes, knowing there could still be a premiership to be won.
In the meantime, we all have our job to do in keeping New Zealand healthy by staying home and following the advice of Government and health experts during the remainder of the lockdown, and beyond.
Once again, thank you for your support and understanding through this period. Please take care of each other. We are one family. We are the Vodafone Warriors. And more than ever, we are All In.
Cameron George - CEO
Rob Croot - chairman
Stephen Kearney - head coach
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck - captain
