An Auckland-based company has taken a punt on Invercargill by bringing the "A Tribute to Graham Henry" tour to the city next month.

Duco Events are organising an event to honour the career of World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry.

They had scheduled tribute shows for Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, and were originally toying with whether to hold a fourth night in Dunedin or Hamilton.

However, one of the guest speakers for the roadshow, Sir Bob Jones, suggested to David Higgins, of Duco Events, that they bring it to Invercargill instead.

"I was chatting with Sir Bob Jones and he said: ‘Where are you going to do the fourth one?' I said we're weighing up Dunedin and Hamilton. He said: ‘Why not give Invercargill a go? I've spent 50 years doing book tours and political rallies around the country and I've found I've always had a good turnout in Invercargill as opposed to other places'," Mr Higgins said.

"I like to try new things, it's one of my motivators. I thought why not, let's give Invercargill a crack."

Higgins and Duco Events are best known for their boxing promotions in recent years, including stumping up with a million dollars to get David Tua and Shane Cameron together in the ring in 2009.

The tribute to Graham Henry will be held on August 28 at the Ascot Park Hotel and will be a "this is your life"-type event.

Other guests speaking about Henry include Sir Bob Jones, Sir John Kirwan and Sir Peter Leitch.

Higgins said the Auckland night had been priced at $400 a ticket but would be set at $195 for Invercargill. Tickets would include a three-course meal, beer and wine.

The Kidney Kids charity has also been guaranteed a minimum of $250,000 from the Graham Henry tribute tour. A sellout in Invercargill would be 400 people.

"If all goes well we'll be back and we'll bring other big names to town in the future," Mr Higgins said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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