The Waikato Rugby Union should establish strong and lasting relationships with the region’s schools if it wants the game to thrive. That’s according to the winning team at Waikato Management School’s case competition.
The team – Once Were Managers – was one of four competing in the competition final. They’d had two weeks to develop an understanding of how the union functioned, they’d studied its finances and then come up with what they thought would be sustainable growth strategy.
Once Were Managers’ strategy was called “Feeding the Future” and was devised after canvassing nine local schools. The group discovered schools at all levels would welcome much more involvement and support from clubs and the union.
They proposed that clubs carry out weekly coaching programmes in schools backed up with regular visits from Chiefs and Waikato players and rugby fun-days. They also proposed the union’s marketing be more school focused which would help to increase gate sales at top grade games.
The case competition is compulsory paper in the Bachelor of Management Studies degree. Chief judge Pawel Grochowicz, Telecom’s general manager for Next Generation Consumer, said the competition was wonderful opportunity for students to take their functional knowledge and make it relevant. “It tests their thinking, it’s pragmatic and they actually gain some wisdom.”
Agri experts warn New Zealand’s food and fibre future could arrive by default rather than by design
Management Editorial Team
June 24, 2026
Despite near universal optimism in the rural sector, a panel of New Zealand’s leading food and agri minds say the sector must be intentional about its future path if it’s to successfully navigate the social, economic, environmental and technological forces impacting its operating environment.
