Save the Makos

JOSH REICH asked 11 people with a keen interest in the future of rugby in the top of the south: why do the Makos deserve to stay in the top tier?

Murray Sturgeon from Nelson Pine Industries

I've copied heaps of those petitions you guys are running, and I'm circulating that around the plant. I think the team is now performing, having been founded three years ago, and they are showing the fruits of their efforts.

But more importantly, to put top of the South Island rugby back into Heartland rugby is just going to destroy the effort that's been made in creating a team that's performing with an attractive style of rugby.

Trafalgar Park timekeeper Errol Millar

I think it's pretty sad that the almighty dollar should dictate too much of what goes on in rugby. I've done the clock on and off for 20 years, and I'd rank them as being worthy of being in the middle of the competition, and they're even better than that at the moment. If they can make the playoffs, even better.

This has been the best year for crowds, when you can get 8000 or 9000 to a game in Nelson, where over the last few years they'd be lucky to get 1500.

Dick Vandenberg

We don't want to get rid of our boys, and I think the union should look at where they are on the table at the moment, as well as some of the other teams. We're actually going to be missing out on rugby, and our boys will disappear because they will go to other unions who will have them, and our rugby will suffer because of it.

And not just here, but in Marlborough as well. They'll go overseas, and once they go overseas, you won't get them back again, and local rugby here will suffer because of it. They'll still play for fun, but you won't get the same calibre of rugby.

Nelson College 1st XV captain and Tasman Rugby Union academy member Mitchell Thwaites

Of course they should – it's pretty vital for people like myself coming through the region. Next year I'm not sure what to do; there's university, but if they're staying, I'd love to hang around and go to polytech or something like that.

It [the rugby academy] is bloody awesome. It helps you so much, it just shows you that pathway to professionalism.

There's a bit of talk that if we go down, the best way to go back up is for everyone to stay around and help them get back up. If they go down, I've got a big choice – to either hang around in the region and try to get back up, or go elsewhere.

Nelson MP Nick Smith

I think the NZRU needs to take on board, as we head towards the Rugby World Cup, ensuring that they maintain the strong base of New Zealand rugby.

Sure, the All Blacks are the gloss of New Zealand rugby, but the team only survives with a strong club and provincial championship.

The RWC in 2011 is going to be a huge event in which all New Zealanders will be participating in rugby.

It's really important, particularly at this time, that they take on the message from provinces like Northland and Tasman and ensure their survival and support on an ongoing basis for rugby.

Manawatu Rugby Union chief executive John Knowles

[The NZRU] have got a competition that the communities, particularly the smaller ones, have really gotten into. In my view, it's absolutely reuniting New Zealand outside the metropolitan regions, and I think that is significant enough to keep it there.

Some of the unions, like your one, are starting to show that this year, they're starting to get their house in order. We all know that for these small towns, there is nothing better than being able to play against the top fellas.

We'll have a reasonable competition in division one [the proposed new tier for the demoted teams], but we'll never be playing the Richie McCaws of this world, and that's a sad thing. That brings in the crowds, it brings the motivation, the odd game gets tipped over, and that enthuses the crowd – you take that all away when you do what they're doing.

Nelson Giants coach Chris Tupu

I think it would be a real shame if they weren't able to continue in the Air NZ Cup. I think in small towns like Nelson, it's got a big following, a lot like the basketball. It would be a real shame for people not to be able to follow it.

And also for youngsters in the region; we always like to think they want to play for the Giants, and there is opportunity to get seen at that level – and who knows? If you're good enough, you might get picked up by whoever.

The same goes for rugby for the younger kids coming through in this area – it's always good to have something like that to work towards or aim for.

Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dot Kettle

It provides a profile for our region, as they play outside the region as well as inside. It brings people into our region to watch the games, and when they're playing the other team, their supporters get to see a little window of the paradise we live in. It also gives us a sporting team to be proud of. We've got a sporting tradition of doing quite well across a number of sports, and I think it all adds to that rich mix.

Nelson Mail rugby writer and sports editor Wayne Martin

After nearly four years of watching premier rugby, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. Having teams like Canterbury, Auckland, Waikato and Wellington visiting either Blenheim or Nelson obviously generates more interest than heading along to Trafalgar Park on a Saturday afternoon to watch, say, Wanganui or Horowhenua go through their paces.

Tasman's match against Auckland saw around 8100 pouring into Trafalgar Park two weeks ago, providing a realistic measure of the interest that the Makos have created.

It might have just been a case of Tasman's supporters heading along to Trafalgar Park simply to thumb their noses at the New Zealand Rugby Union, but the more successful the Makos have become, the more genuine interest there is in watching them perform.

The Makos play an exciting brand of rugby, and after four years of hard work by the players, management and administrators, they have developed a team concept and marketable brand that have earned legitimate respect on the national rugby scene. To have the NZRU suddenly cut that process off at the knees would be an absolute disgrace, not to mention the disastrous effects on the game within the region.

Former Makos and current Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder

Tasman's had a huge influence on the Crusaders – we had seven or eight guys in the team last year. I feel that all the players that have come up have done themselves proud and deserve to be in the competition. I'm a firm believer that this competition is right, but the sad reality is that it's down to financial constraints that are the key drivers for change.

Without Tasman, I would never have got my opportunity, and look at what it has done for the school kids and the rugby players in the region – it's raised the standard. People usually get better in their own environment. When they have to travel or go searching for a position, it's quite hard. It has had a massive impact being able to play in front of their own people, and with that comes accountability, and that's why I think Tasman has done so well.

Nelson world champion bowler Val Smith

I think the Air NZ Cup has been really entertaining this season, and the Makos have played really enterprising football. It gives the chance for guys from the smaller centres to get up and mix it with the big boys, and that's exactly what they're doing.

It's a little bit different now, but when I was playing football, Jo [Edwards] and I were in the New Zealand squad for six years and couldn't break through to the senior team because they kept telling us we had to move to a bigger centre and we weren't going to do it from Nelson.

But this is providing a base for guys to get seen and show what they can do against these bigger, high-profile teams.

- © Fairfax NZ News