|
Full house for cup games
posted: 22 September 2011 Sport Thought ... with Brent Eastwood
By the time you read this, the second Rugby World Cup game ever to be held in Northland will be consigned to the history books. If it is even half as good as the first one, I would say another 17 odd thousand people will have gone home satisfied that they have got value for money.
To think that Northland had the first venue of the 2011 Rugby World Cup that completely sold-out is fantastic, and is another feather in the region’s cap. The atmosphere down at the park on the day, and around the city leading up to the game, was absolutely electric, something that I cannot recall since the heady days of North Auckland’s two Ranfurly Shield eras back in the 70s.
And in one sense it was even better than those days, because at least this time, as most Northlanders were neutral spectators, we could attend the game and enjoy the occasion without too much worry of who was going to come out on top! In fact by wearing red you were going to be supporting the winning side no matter what the result!
I have not talked to one person who did not think it was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon’s viewing – both on and off the field! The hosting of three countries that all have red in their colours was an absolute masterstroke, and whoever was responsible for that needs a medal. And it’s been great to see how Northland has capitalised on this, with the ‘Paint it Red’ campaign capturing the imagination of the entire region.
It certainly made me think how exciting and captivating it is to be in a big sporting crowd where there is a genuine festival atmosphere. You get it regularly in international test matches involving the likes of the All Blacks, but very rarely do you get it at provincial level.
As already stated, the holding of the Ranfurly Shield can also engender that feeling in a big crowd, but outside of that it is a rarity in the regions. Why is that? Why can we not get even half (make that a quarter this year!) that number along to a Northland game these days at that very same stadium?
It makes you wonder how much better our Northland team would go in the ITM Cup with a revved up crowd behind them, urging them on. But I guess these two World Cup games have been the culmination of an intense build-up over a few years since Whangarei was announced as one of the 12 venues.
Being part of history is also an enticing thing for people, and obviously that has a major bearing on why many, many people who would not normally ever attend a Northland game would have gone along to these games.
But even so, is it a chance for Northland rugby to encourage more Northlanders to come along and support their own team next year? You betcha.
Sport Thought ... with Brent Eastwood :: back :: |
