Wellington Rugby Football Union announce Shannon Paku as Interim Chief Executive

Wellington Rugby Football Union have today announced the appointment of an interim CEO, former Manawatū Rugby Union CEO, Shannon Paku.

The 42-year-old former Manawatū, Wellington, Hurricanes and Blues outside back will take over from Matt Evans, who announced in December he was stepping aside from the role in the new year.

Paku ran his own Logistics company in Wellington after retiring from rugby at the end of the 2010 season and was added to the Wellington Rugby Union board of directors in 2015.

Wellington Rugby Football Union chairman Russell Poole said Paku's business acumen would be a welcome asset to the Union and brings a wealth of experience both on and off the field.

“The Wellington Rugby Football Union [WRFU] Board is excited and pleased to have secured Shannon’s services as our CEO. First and foremost, Shannon is a great person with values that are fully aligned to those of the WRFU.

“From a functional perspective he previously served one year on our Board and filled the Manawatū CEO role for three years so is fully conversant with the rugby environment from community participation through to our high-performance environment such as the Pride, Lions, Centurions Development and U19 teams,” said Poole.

Paku said he was excited for the new challenge.

“I'm really excited to be coming onboard. I became a professional rugby player here, proudly donning Wellington’s black and yellow jersey over 7 seasons, so it's quite a special place for me.

“I have really good relationships with many of Wellington’s past CEOs, and many former players who have now come in as coaches and administrators, and I know there are some challenges, but there is also a lot of amazing things happening in this Union, and a lot of really dedicated people.

“The landscape of provincial rugby, and indeed the various challenges we face in today’s climate, are very familiar to me and I am looking forward to bringing this experience into the role to support Wellington Rugby Football Union,” said Paku.

Paku grew up in Masterton, but went to school at Hato Paora College, before heading to Auckland for his final year at St Stephen's College in Auckland where he made the New Zealand Secondary Schools team.

His first-class playing career started with Wellington in 2000 [until 2007] and he debuted for the Hurricanes in 2002 [until 2008].

He spent 2003 with the Super Rugby champion Blues playing two games and a further six for Auckland before returning to the Hurricanes and Wellington in 2004.

From there he played for Montauban in France before returning for a final flourish in New Zealand rugby with Manawatū in 2010. Paku was the CEO at Manawatū Rugby Union from 2018 until 2021.