{"id":309533,"date":"2026-03-02T15:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/309533\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T15:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:16:15","slug":"rotorua-rugby-feud-leaves-clubhouse-in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/309533\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua rugby feud leaves clubhouse in limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Central<\/p>\n

\nCentral Rugby clubhouse at Linton Park East Reserve.
\nPhoto: LDR \/ Mathew Nash\n<\/p>\n

A Rotorua rugby league club has called on the council to end a seven-year wait to return to a clubhouse abandoned amid an inter-club feud.<\/p>\n

Central Rugby League Club was founded in 1969, but split into two factions in 2017 after an internal dispute, according to a 2019 Sports Tribunal of New Zealand finding.<\/p>\n

The stoush soured relations between the club and its governing body, the Bay of Plenty District Rugby League, which eventually suspended the original committee.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The tribunal overruled the committee’s suspension in 2019, ruling it an “egregious breach of natural justice” and ordering the committee be reinstated.<\/p>\n

The club was awarded a total $4500 in costs from Bay of Plenty District Rugby League.<\/p>\n

Several former members, however, started a new club, Central Pride, in 2019. It now caters for junior, rangatahi and senior rugby league.<\/p>\n

Central Pride’s desire to use the traditional home at Linton Park East Reserve remains unfulfilled, however, with the clubhouse essentially abandoned.<\/p>\n

Central Pride president Jason Walker wants answers from Rotorua Lakes Council, which owns the surrounding reserve.<\/p>\n

“It should be sorted after all this time,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It just seems like a waste to let the building sit there and deteriorate, possibly to the point it has to be knocked over.”<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

\nJason Walker (far left) and Ernie Walker (second from right) have been leading the charge to return the clubhouse to use.
\nPhoto: LDR \/ Supplied\n<\/p>\n

He said the club had businesses ready to help fix up the building, which he believed could become “a hub for the community”.<\/p>\n

“For a lot of younger men, being involved gives them a way to get away from difficult backgrounds, to let out frustrations and talk things through with others.”<\/p>\n

Ernie Walker played senior rugby league until he was 70 and is a former president of the original club.<\/p>\n

He believes Central Pride should have the clubhouse.<\/p>\n

“We need to be back in there, get it up and running, and make this a viable place to help kids who are roaming the streets get into sports,” he said.<\/p>\n

Walker continues to monitor his old stomping ground and even claimed to have twice ejected squatters after a “little rumble”.<\/p>\n

Club’s dissolution revoked<\/p>\n

Central Rugby League Club was dissolved by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies in May 2023 after a period of inactivity.<\/p>\n

This dissolution was revoked this month after the club provided financial statements from 2021 to 2024 as evidence of ongoing operations.<\/p>\n

The registrar said this was sufficient to show that the club “was carrying on its operations” when it dissolved.<\/p>\n

Walker was surprised to hear that. He said the original club had not fielded a team since 2017-18 and had sold off much of its kitchen appliances, training gear and bar equipment in a September 2021 auction.<\/p>\n

The auction raised $16,732, according to financial statements filed by Central.<\/p>\n

Walker has had numerous interactions with Rotorua Lakes Council, including with Mayor Tania Tapsell.<\/p>\n

This included a proposal in 2024 to resurrect the clubhouse to be a “thriving marae and community hub”.<\/p>\n

He said the process had been “bloody hopeless”.<\/p>\n

\"Central<\/p>\n

\nCentral Pride now cater for rugby for youth, junior and senior levels.
\nPhoto: LDR \/ Supplied\n<\/p>\n

He doubted the chances of reconciliation with the original club’s current leadership and believed it was up to the council to “sort it out”.<\/p>\n

“I’m getting a bit past it now, and I had my day,” he said. “But I want to make sure the clubhouse is there for the community.”<\/p>\n

Tapsell said she had been contacted a “few times” by club members. She “encouraged” them to continue engagement, but said legal processes had blocked progress.<\/p>\n

She hoped these could be resolved and the clubhouse used again “as soon as possible”.<\/p>\n

“Sports and access to appropriate facilities is really important for our community, and council will keep supporting opportunities for this across our district.”<\/p>\n

Legal proceedings continue<\/p>\n

Kerry Mason was the president of Central Rugby League Club when it was suspended.<\/p>\n

He resigned in 2019 but is now listed as the club’s treasurer in recently filed financial documents.<\/p>\n

These show total assets of more than $130,000 against bank debt of $10,758, $27,430 in liabilities including unpaid rates and loans, and a reduction in the value of its land and buildings from $281,000 to $100,000 over six years.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to Local Democracy Reporting, Mason said the council had “bled the club dry” with rates, building warrants and other licensing costs, as well as disputed penalties.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\nFormer Central Rugby League Club president Kerry Mason inside the clubhouse in 2015.
\nPhoto: LDR \/ Ben Fraser\n<\/p>\n

He said the clubhouse front door and windows had been broken in the past two months.<\/p>\n

Requests to the council for improved lighting to help prevent such damage had gone unanswered, he said.<\/p>\n

He did not comment on plans for the clubhouse, the future of the club or the impact on the community.<\/p>\n

Council community experience group manager Alex Wilson told Local Democracy Reporting that the building’s future was the subject of continuing legal proceedings.<\/p>\n

“Until this is completed, we are unable to take any steps or make decisions regarding the building, or comment on individual parties or potential future arrangements.”<\/p>\n

She said the reserve continued to be maintained by the council, while steps had also been taken to “secure the building” while unoccupied.<\/p>\n

The Bay of Plenty District Rugby League was approached for comment.<\/p>\n

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Central Rugby clubhouse at Linton Park East Reserve. Photo: LDR \/ Mathew Nash A Rotorua rugby league club…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-309533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}