Yes, so one guess is that NZF knew that they had the application and were actioning it but couldn't complete the process because of bureaucracy and poor management. If the Phoenix rang to check on it then NZF would have said that it's being done. They probably never expected that the guy who has to sign off on it wouldn't get back to them. In this scenario nothing the Phoenix could have done, short of hiring a fleet of helicopters and tracker dogs to find the NZF person on vacation could have made NZF do their job because it was internal resourcing / procedures that were in the way.
If the Phoenix went up to Auckland then short of forcing someone at gun point to go against procedures and orders the thing would never have been done.