Forbidden Fruit: Can Rugby League thrive in the garden of Eden?

Call me a pessimist, but Rugby League’s recent escapades on what is the Holy Grail of New Zealand Rugby Union wreak of PR and Marketing bullshit. And as someone who loves a good publicity stunt as much as the next man, that is saying something.

Attempts to capture the attention of the casual fan are nothing new to League in this country. Years before the Warriors, promoters were paying Australian teams big bucks to perform on our shores in exhibition matches not too dissimilar from wrestling house shows put on by the WWE. I remember a certain Bulldogs/Sea Eagles match which drew decent numbers at Carlaw Park in ’94, and who could forget Dean Lonergan’s monumental attempt at drawing a crowd for a “Friendly” in Rotorua. But promo matches are one thing; playing 13-a-side in the heart of 15-a-side country is a different story completely.

I have a huge problem for moving fixtures from one ground to another, especially from one etched in culture and tradition, to another smothered in controversy and bitterness. Sure, tensions between the two codes seem to have been subdued in recent times, in the past few years we’ve had Union players training with League teams in the offseason, and League players facing off with their Union opposition in theatre sports. Even Murray Deaker, the Beezlebub himself, now features Rugby League segments in his various media spots, which ten years ago Jesus Christ himself would have had difficulty predicting.

But in my opinion in 2011, League is still not ready to tackle the Scarlet Beast that is Eden Park. The Warriors have spent the better part of 15 years attempting to build a solid support base at Mount Smart (formerly Ericsson). They’ve done it all: Army reinactments, mascot fights, daredevil stunts, even Chris Isaak warmed the 5000-strong crowd up one Sunday afternoon. And despite all of this bumper entertainment, the fact still remains: the only thing that draws the people in, is good footy.

Fans have experienced more than their fair share of controversy at Mount Smart over the last couple of years. Captains getting sacked out of nowhere despite being in the form of their careers; halfbacks getting sacked and winning Premierships at other clubs; one hit wonders; none hit wonders; we’ve had it all. But despite all of this, the guys running out on the pitch between March and October have managed to string a few wins together and make decent attempts during the Playoffs, all the while building a solid support base. Solid. Not overwhelming. Not blockbusting. Not record setting. But solid.

As a season ticket holder for over ten years, I can confidently say that a move to Eden Park is not a response to exhausting ticket demand, rather another shot in the dark at grabbing a few kick-clap fans looking to “slum” it for a couple of hours with the leaguies, and a blatant attempt to ride the Rugby World Cup wave. Whilst no one can fault Warriors management for seeking to expand their fan base, their turbulent history suggests they should first focus on maintaining their current numbers, and draw those from the “Dark Side” through the one way which never ceases to fail – football.

You might call me bitter in response to the Warriors’ decision, and to a degree you are probably right. I have grown fond of Mount Smart, and everything about it: the close proximity between the stands and ground; the tunnel; the luke-warm lamb burgers; Lion Red beer and Nick Smith on hype duty. I enjoy being able to get in and out of the ground in under ten minutes, even after a sell out. I enjoy not having uppity residents moan and groan when I urinate outside my car because the seal always seems to break after leaving the gate! But most of all, I enjoy having a place to call home.

This is not the first time the Warriors (and indeed the Kiwis) have played on Union ground either. The Warriors have played regular season matches in Wellington and Christchurch, though admittedly these were at the expense of an opposition home game, and aside from a last second draw against the Bulldogs at the Cake Tin some years back, they have been largely unfruitful. The Kiwis have lost two huge fixtures at Eden Park over the last couple of decades and were smashed in Wellington the last time they played Australia there. Outside of beating Tonga and PNG at Rotorua, they have performed solidly only at North Harbour, where they had played their home games for consecutive years prior.

One may be forgiven for thinking that Scurrah and his pals are attempting to ride the wave created by the Kiwis during the Four Nations, however the controversial Double Header which reintroduced the renovated Eden Park to the rest of the world was a unique event, heavily hyped by the media in order to attract curious fans looking to get a sneak peak ahead of next years’ Super Rugby season and indeed World Cup. This is a completely different situation, and after the casuals delivered their standard Mexican Wave, and the effects of 12 hours on the sauce began to take their toll, I struggle to comprehend the Warriors drawing anywhere near the 40000+ the Double Header did that night.

It’s fair to say that league in this country thrives not on one-off stunts, but consistency. I fear all of the hard work put in by both management, the coaching staff, the players themselves, and even the Auckland Regional Council, who have built a brand new stand specifically with the Warriors in mind, maybe undone by regularly transferring fixtures to Eden Park, and god forbid, a permanent switch. You only have to look at the disastrous consequences teams such as South Sydney have faced when moving to larger inner city grounds in attempts to draw more casual fans and cut the costs imposed by rates. How can a team go from having 40000+ marching in the streets demanding their return to the League, to drawing little over 10000. Admittedly their footy hasn’t been the greatest, but when you look at a side like the Cowboys who have been equally turbulent, yet can still regularly draw, one has to wonder. With a sport struggling to compete with the AFL in Australia, and Rugby Union here at home, you have to wonder what Wayne Scurrah and Co. will think when they see the half-full stands come Round One next year. It isn’t a good look, even from a purely aesthetic point of view.

There are claims that travel time impacts on the amount of people attending regular season matches played by the Warriors, however anyone who has been to Eden Park (before and after the renovation) knows that said “travel time” is no worse than the time it takes to leave the Gladwrap Stadium and its surrounding areas. No amount of street shutdowns, free busses and “one at a time” trains will solve this issue. Honestly, if you think getting to and from Mount Smart was a problem, I’d hate to see your face come Semi-Final/Final time during next years World Cup. Our infrastructure can’t support such a large crowd of people the way Brisbane and Sydney’s can. Suddenly fifteen minutes on the South Western/Southern to Onehunga doesn’t seem too bad. I highly doubt playing Parramatta at Eden Park will draw more fans based on the travel argument.

This may seem like a Union v League debate, but it is so much more than that. It is a slap in the face to those who have remained loyal through the tough times (and believe me, at times tough doesn’t begin to describe them) in an attempt to bring in the casuals. When the Warriors were flogged by fifty three weeks in a row, were the casuals purchasing merchandise? No. When the brand new captain and vice captain were signed illegally through breaching the salary cap, were the casuals eating half frozen hotdogs and purchasing four packs of lion red for $22.00 a pop? No. When a certain winger was accused of sexual misconduct after starring the season prior, was it the casuals who still managed to remain positive about their footy team despite the controversy? No. So when the management of the team which represents the heart and soul of the majority of rugby league fans in this country decides “they know best”, fans have the right to be angry.

I can hear the Union pundits already, but to be honest, I have nothing but the upmost respect for those that play the other code. Many of them are fantastically skilled and possess athletic brilliance which rivals the best sportspeople in the world. Many of them would make fantastic league players, if they hadn’t been already. But you are the spawn of Satan, you are all that is evil, so therefore all of that brilliance is nullified.

Warriors, NZRL and Rugby League in general, do us all a favour, and leave running around in the Garden of Eden to two faced serpents, oh and Biblical tales as well. We are perfectly suited to where we are: reality. We may want to believe the Warriors can draw 60000, but they are not the Brisbane Broncos, in a one team city, two times the size of Auckland. We may want to believe the move may “steal” audiences, but this is not the Monday Night Wrestling War of the 1990s. We may want to believe in a lot of things: free speech, peace and eternal happiness. But the fact of the matter is that none of these things exist in the real world.

Concentrate on building a franchise that can maintain consistent performances on the footy pitch, and the results will be far more fruitful in the long-term than the “grass is greener” scenario we are currently facing. Disrespecting your core fan base can have disastrous effects for a sports franchise as flimsy as the Warriors – why risk it?