NZRU gets the message from fans

SCOTT HAMMOND

Express editor Lance Dodd speaks while Nelson Mail editor Bill Moore is about to present a petition to Steve Tew of the NZRU.

OPINION: On Friday night New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew was presented with a petition containing more than 14,000 signatures from rugby fans in the top of the south. The petition was organised by The Marlborough Express and our sister publication, The Nelson Mail.

It called on the NZRU to retain the current 14 team Air New Zealand Cup format and keep the Tasman Makos in the top level of New Zealand rugby. A letter from Kaikoura electorate MP Colin King was also handed to Mr Tew.

The response to the petition was overwhelming and the large number of signatures collected sends a strong message to the NZRU that it shouldn't meddle with the competition format.

Similar petitions have been organised in other regions in New Zealand as well. In Manawatu, 7500 fans put their signatures to a petition while a national website, saveourteams.co.nz also has several thousand signatures.

Mr Tew congratulated the Nelson and Marlborough rugby fraternity for their support of the Save the Makos petition and acknowledged that it was a "strong message" that he would be taking back to his board as it considers the fate of the Makos and other teams facing the chop.

Lansdowne Park hosted a large crowd on Friday night and they were treated to some top-class rugby and a carnival atmosphere.

It is unlikely that the Makos would attract similar size crowds if they were playing in a lower tier of rugby. Some of the top players would undoubtedly leave for greener pastures and sponsors would also be less likely to shell out big money for the team should they be booted out of the current competition – not a healthy outlook for rugby in the region.

Support for the Makos and other teams has come from some of the biggest names in New Zealand rugby. Colin Meads and Todd Blackadder have joined politicians, long-time supporters and junior players in calling for the retention of the 14-team competition.

Whether the petitions will serve any purpose or not is unclear. The NZRU is not renowned for changing its mind but it now has a strong message from thousands of rugby fans around the country. And it would be unwise to simply ignore that message.

Some suggest the NZRU's decision is a fait accompli and the Makos are already down and out. That may have been the case a few weeks ago but now that nearly 40,000 fans have shown their support for their teams (and this number would have been much larger if team performance had been a main criteria for culling) there is a chance that sanity will prevail when the union sits down to make its final decision.

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