There was a rumor awhile back that the Nix were stumping up a bit of money as a key tenant for the NZCIS in Upper Hutt, if that's the case then they may have been in a bit of a precarious financial position and the clubs owners might not have cash to pump into the team because they're propping up multiple struggling businesses. Investments in new training facilities, the academy, and setting up the women team as well as a pretty expensive squad are going to impact cashflow.
Dome was pretty honest on the pod a few weeks ago saying that they'd struggle to meet this months payroll. As El says, only a few teams still paid their squads through the break so the financial situation of most are just as precarious.