While it’s understood that the news that Watson could relinquish control of the Warriors has sparked interest in other prospective buyers, Davys says he’s pressing ahead with his interest in the club and he’s not being swayed by who the other potential owners might be.”That’s for Eric to decide, I’m focussed on what I’m doing to be fair,” Davys said.On Thursday, Warriors great Monty Betham launched a campaign for Warriors fans to buy the club.Logistically it might be tough to organise Betham’s crowd-sourced proposal fast enough when other interested parties are already down the track with their negotiations.But whoever does take control of the club will have to demonstrate to Warriors fans that the club would be heading in the right direction.When Sir Owen Glenn had his fall out with Watson he did suggest gifting his half of the club to Warriors fans. That didn’t eventuate and he sold his share back to Watson.Davys doesn’t feel it would be appropriate if there was a seat on the board for a representative from Warriors fans if he took over, but he does understand the frustrations supporters have had.”I do and that’s why I want to buy it, I’m a fan,” he said. “I sit there every year and there’s a taste of disappointment about the club.”It’s one of the reasons why I want to buy it.”For some, Davys has been seen as a knight in shining armour, who can at last bring success to the Warriors.However, he doesn’t regard himself in that manner.”Until I do something with the club and prove myself I think the jury is still out on me,” Davys said. “I don’t want to be seen as some messiah.”Warriors managing director Jim Doyle addressed players earlier this week to inform them about the ownership situation.A new owner wouldn’t have any effect on their current contracts and the hope is that they’ll be able to concentrate on the remaining games this season. Ownership discussions are out of the control of the players and management in Auckland.Even if someone has reached an agreement with Watson, it will still take a while for the documentation to be done and nothing will be concluded until well after the current season, so the club are continuing work on signing players for 2018.Davys acknowledges that while he’s making progress, it is going to be a couple more months before there is an official announcement.”That’s just realistic,” he said. “You’re not going to shake hands and say there’s the deal, these things take time.”The first thing is getting on the same page, the second is due diligence and the third is an agreement.”Personally, I think some of the media hype around this has jumped the gun.”Doing due diligence will allow Davys to look at the books and closely examine how the club operates.”You’ve got to look at the whole operation,” Davys said. “How much they spend on their football programme, how much is spent in the commercial department.”You’ve got to look at player contracts, agreements with the NRL and different agreements with players.”These days’ player contracts are quite interesting. In the old days you’d just sign up for a term and then renegotiate a contract, but when you get someone coming towards the end of their career, you might get someone promised a job or a promise to be an ambassador.”You have to look at all of these things.” Photo by: PHOTOSPORT Caption: Warriors fans and players won’t see a resolution on the ownership situation for a couple of months.
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