Hurricanes duo call for fans to get more vocal

BY TONY ROBSON

Jason Eaton and Cory Jane have appealed to rugby fans to match the passion of their football counterparts after the pair helped chant the Wellington Phoenix to victory at Westpac Stadium.

The Hurricanes duo were among the 24,000-strong crowd that helped urge the Phoenix to victory against Perth Glory in their A-league playoff match last Sunday.

And though Eaton admitted he had struggled in his attempts to sing along with Yellow Fever he would love to see Hurricanes fans give it a try during this season's Super 14.

"It was wonderful. In a way it was kind of disappointing to see such [passionate] support for a soccer game," he said. "I was proud to be a part of it and experience it, but it would be great to see that for our games.

"The atmosphere was just amazing to be a part of for that game."

Asked what could be done to bring the same atmosphere to rugby, Eaton said: "I'm not too sure how you change that. It'd be great if the guys that come along to the rugby got more vocal and hopefully the football will encourage that. I suppose the [rugby] crowd gets into it when something happens, whereas soccer fans make it happen with the atmosphere by singing along.

"In a rugby game they are waiting for something to happen, something controversial, a try to be scored for the win, but in between they are sort of just watching. I guess it's just the way both codes have evolved over the years.

"I joined in [the chanting] but I didn't really know the words or the tunes, so I sort of made it up. It was pretty entertaining."

Jane had similar sentiments and suggested a zone similar to the Yellow Fever's could spark off equally passionate chanting at the rugby.

"Hopefully people get along and get pumped like they did for the Phoenix game. That really pumped ... we can't have the same chant obviously because it would make no sense, Ri-cki Her-bert ... [but] something similar to that."

Jane said the two codes were different in terms of how the crowd watched the action.

"Obviously they are different games, football's a bit of a game of chess and the crowd has a lot of time to get pumped up [between goals], but it would be good to see Hurricanes fans get along and get into the rugby side of things."

The Hurricanes traditionally had great support and he believed the crowds would build as the season progressed. "The rugby starts early and people have other things to do at this time of the year, but we'd love the crowd to get involved," he said.

"I don't know if the players need to start doing touch down celebrations like David [Smith]. I don't know what it is, but hopefully the crowd comes along this weekend pumped up for the game."

- © Fairfax NZ News