Get off the grass, Hurricanes fans told

BY TOBY ROBSON

Last updated 05:00 18/02/2010

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

NO-GO ZONE: Westpac Stadium boss David Gray has dismissed any chance of fans being allowed on the Cake Tin turf after Hurricanes games this season.

Relevant offers

Fans will not be allowed to run on to Westpac Stadium after the Hurricanes' Super 14 home opener on Saturday despite the popular return of the post-match pitch invasion in Christchurch.

Westpac Stadium chief executive David Gray said yesterday the safety of fans and players would be compromised if the crowd ran on to the playing surface after matches.

Scenes straight out of the 1980s played out at AMI Stadium last weekend when fans streamed on to the pitch at the end of the Crusaders' match against the Highlanders.

The reaction has been universally positive with Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder applauding the policy in his weekly column in The Christchurch Press and suggesting it continue for the rest of the season.

However, Gray questioned AMI Stadium's decision and said the "fan zone" at the southern end of Westpac Stadium was adequate and more appropriate.

"Once you start a culture of people going on to the pitch, you start to lose control of when that happens," he said.

"I just wonder if they've thought it through properly. You don't have to go far to see incidents of spectators attacking players. It happened in an ODI during the Australia-Pakistan series.

"Cricket wouldn't allow it. They used to have it at the Basin Reserve and were forced to cut it out for internationals. I just think [at] the major sports grounds you separate the playing field from the public."

Gray said the design of Westpac Stadium's bowl, which has a two-metre drop from the seats to the playing surface, and the ground's heavy usage also worked against allowing fans on to the field.

A football fan had broken his leg after jumping on to the ground after the All Whites-Bahrain World Cup qualifier, one of about 50 events staged at the stadium annually, he said.

"Most other [stadiums] do probably 20 events. You only have to look at the three consecutive weekends of double-headers and another two coming up. We have to protect our grass.

"Most other stadiums after the rugby season don't have anything through to January, whereas we carry on right through, so if you lose a bit of grass the recovery is quite difficult."

Fans will continue to be able to get autographs from Hurricanes players during the Super 14 in a designated area behind the southern in-goal, introduced during the NPC.

Gray believed it provided a safer way for children to get up close to their heroes.

Ad Feedback

"I remember well the first time Jonah Lomu played at Athletic Park, and I was the chairman of the Wellington Rugby Union. It wasn't so much the danger to Jonah, but the danger to every kid who ran on the field and was about to get trampled by an adult.

"A well-managed and orderly system where kids queue up and get autographs and get close to players ... I think it's all being achieved."

Hurricanes chief executive Greg Peters said the franchise supported the stadium's policy and believed the "fan zone" struck a balance between safety and the desire of young fans to mix with the players.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Dominion Post Homepage

Sponsored links

Share this page

Email Facebook MySpace Digg StumbleUpon Delicious Reddit Linkedin Twitter

60 comments
Post a comment

Expand All

Oldest First

Old fart #60 02:47 pm Feb 20 2010

After last night methinks the Crusaders might not want the crowd on the park next week!

samc #59 11:10 pm Feb 18 2010

Toby Robson says: "Fans will not be allowed to run on to Westpac Stadium after the Hurricanes' Super 14 home opener on Saturday despite the popular return of the post-match pitch invasion in Christchurch"

All I can say is, good on Christchurch. They certainly need to pull out all stops to try and build up their abysmal crowd figures - they need the money apparently.

Mr Gray I agree with you and for all you bloggers who so desperately want to "invade the pitch" after the games then here's what you need to do (1) Break a leg by jumping over the barriers 2 metres to the ground OR (2) Race madly to one of the stairways leading on to the pitch and push and shove your way down it - careful of the littlies though.

Westpac Stadium is not Athletic park or AMI stadium. At the risk of stating the obvious, it's design does not lend itself to hoards of people racing out on to the pitch after a game. And for Toby Robson in his statement above to suggest we should allow this at Westpac just because Christchurch did it - PLEASE...

Nick #58 09:54 pm Feb 18 2010

Read Blackadders column on the Crusaders site, he talks about how much the fans like it, and the team too having fans around them. I suspect the Hurricanes feel the same, the administrators need to get their heads out of the sand and understand the fans are an important part of the event.

neyza3 #57 09:17 pm Feb 18 2010

Dear Fans/Mr Gray; we love you all and its a shame we cant get you all on the field like back in the good old athletic park days:) i dont know why but that wont stop us (players) from joining you all in the stands after home games... i promise i will stay out there (like always) to sign/smile for photos till every last kid/fan is outta that stadium with a smile win or lose this year... thats the least we can offer as a player, thank you all for your support and feel free to stop by and say hi on my twitter page: https://twitter.com/neyza3

sign: neemia tialata :)

Brat #56 07:48 pm Feb 18 2010

I remember my skinny wee nephew being stood on by Paul Stienmetz after he and I ran onto Athletic Park as kids. Sprigs and all, cracked a couple of ribs I think. Rather put the nephew off rugby, to be honest.

Not to mention - There's a big drop from the seats to the playing surface at Westpac stadium. Lovely way for drunken fools to break ankles.

Perhaps engaging one's brain before spouting "killjoy" type comments?

Andy #55 07:28 pm Feb 18 2010

Wake up NZ, spectators on the pitch went out in the 1970's. Maybe its a pity, but it aint gonna come back. It will only take only drunken idiot and suddenly it will be all high fences again. Wonder if the spectators will be running on the pitch in India for the Commonwealth games?

Dylan #54 06:37 pm Feb 18 2010

If the Crusaders really want a full crowd throughout the season, they should stop playing games at night time in winter and switch to bright sunny not-quite-as-freezing Saturday afternoons.

JGM #53 06:07 pm Feb 18 2010

I went to the cake tin a few years ago as part of a school trip. We had 12 kids under 10 with us and they wouldn't even let themon the pitch to see what it's like looking out onto the stands! I can understand the fans thing but 12 kids, pretty mean I thought. (Great tour besides that though!)

john #52 03:20 pm Feb 18 2010

@gray i agree you done no what ur talking about, porirua park is used more then any other field in wellington for international teams to train and play on besides the stadium, get your facts rights mate

skuxz #51 03:19 pm Feb 18 2010

@ gray bro u dont no what ur talknig bout mate, you need to lay of the hater pills in the morning lol

Ad Feedback

Show 1-50 of 60 comments

Post comment

Name:	Required
Email:	Required. Will not be published.

Registration is not required to post a comment but if you , you will not have to enter your details each time you comment. Registered members also have access to extra features. Create an account now.

Maximum of 1750 characters (about 300 words)

I have read and accepted the terms and conditions
These comments are moderated. Your comment, if approved, may not appear immediately. Please direct any queries about comment moderation to the Opinion Editor at blogs@stuff.co.nz

Sport Headlines

RSS