Rexxy
Coach
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If this is true, its unprofessional at least. Instead of building a bridge, we've set relationships with a potentially new market back several years. As a fan I am sorry to the good people of Nelson. It would have been a great initiative. Our management is out of touch and the fans will be taking a baseball bat to them in the near future.
Plans for Warriors match scuttled
PHILLIP ROLLO
Last updated 13:00 23/10/2014
Nelson rugby league fans will not get a chance to see the New Zealand Warriors play at Trafalgar Park next year, after their proposed pre-season game fell through at the final hurdle.
The Warriors had agreed to play their third and final NRL pre-season match against Benji Marshall's St George Illawarra Dragons at Trafalgar Park at the end of February. However, the Dragons have accepted an invitation to play in the expanded World Club Series in England instead.
Warriors general manager Dean Bell said the team had been looking forward to playing in Nelson, and were disappointed that they were now short of one pre-season game.
"It's not great news all round. At this last stage, to have the Dragons pull out because they're involved in the World Club Challenge is a bit frustrating.
"We were really looking forward to taking the players down there and showing them Nelson. A lot of the players had never been there before."
Trafalgar Events Ltd director Barry Galbraith said it was very disappointing that the game could not go ahead. Accommodation had already been booked, as had the venue.
The only thing the organisers had been waiting on was confirmation from the Dragons, he said. "We had the park booked, and we were in the process of organising catering and taking the tickets to the market."
Galbraith estimated that 12,000 to 15,000 people could have attended the match, with many fans expected to travel from Wellington, Christchurch, Blenheim and the West Coast, as well as supporters from Auckland and Australia.
"I've got friends in rugby league circles, and they've been trying to get the Warriors here for years, and the league community were quite excited about it."
After St George Illawarra pulled out, the Warriors had looked at bringing another NRL or Super League team to Nelson. However, all the other NRL teams had confirmed their pre-season schedules by then, and it was not feasible to fly a team over from Britain.
Trafalgar Events was putting the event together along with several other Nelson businesspeople. Galbraith confirmed that they would lose "a little bit of money", but he would not reveal the amount.
"We've had help from events coordinators and things, which we'll have to pay [for]."
Bell said that if "everything works out", the Warriors would love to come to Nelson for a pre-season match in 2016.
"After everything that's happened, we'd certainly look at Nelson being part of our plans for the following year. We're pretty committed to taking the game to parts of the country that otherwise don't see NRL games, and with the bid that Nelson put together, it was really attractive."
Tasman Rugby League chairman Paul Rosanowski said that while the news was disappointing - particularly because both teams had planned to spend a week in the region leading up the match - he was pleased to hear that the Warriors had verbally committed to playing in Nelson in 2016.
- The Nelson Mail
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/10653794/Plans-for-Warriors-match-scuttled
Plans for Warriors match scuttled
PHILLIP ROLLO
Last updated 13:00 23/10/2014
Nelson rugby league fans will not get a chance to see the New Zealand Warriors play at Trafalgar Park next year, after their proposed pre-season game fell through at the final hurdle.
The Warriors had agreed to play their third and final NRL pre-season match against Benji Marshall's St George Illawarra Dragons at Trafalgar Park at the end of February. However, the Dragons have accepted an invitation to play in the expanded World Club Series in England instead.
Warriors general manager Dean Bell said the team had been looking forward to playing in Nelson, and were disappointed that they were now short of one pre-season game.
"It's not great news all round. At this last stage, to have the Dragons pull out because they're involved in the World Club Challenge is a bit frustrating.
"We were really looking forward to taking the players down there and showing them Nelson. A lot of the players had never been there before."
Trafalgar Events Ltd director Barry Galbraith said it was very disappointing that the game could not go ahead. Accommodation had already been booked, as had the venue.
The only thing the organisers had been waiting on was confirmation from the Dragons, he said. "We had the park booked, and we were in the process of organising catering and taking the tickets to the market."
Galbraith estimated that 12,000 to 15,000 people could have attended the match, with many fans expected to travel from Wellington, Christchurch, Blenheim and the West Coast, as well as supporters from Auckland and Australia.
"I've got friends in rugby league circles, and they've been trying to get the Warriors here for years, and the league community were quite excited about it."
After St George Illawarra pulled out, the Warriors had looked at bringing another NRL or Super League team to Nelson. However, all the other NRL teams had confirmed their pre-season schedules by then, and it was not feasible to fly a team over from Britain.
Trafalgar Events was putting the event together along with several other Nelson businesspeople. Galbraith confirmed that they would lose "a little bit of money", but he would not reveal the amount.
"We've had help from events coordinators and things, which we'll have to pay [for]."
Bell said that if "everything works out", the Warriors would love to come to Nelson for a pre-season match in 2016.
"After everything that's happened, we'd certainly look at Nelson being part of our plans for the following year. We're pretty committed to taking the game to parts of the country that otherwise don't see NRL games, and with the bid that Nelson put together, it was really attractive."
Tasman Rugby League chairman Paul Rosanowski said that while the news was disappointing - particularly because both teams had planned to spend a week in the region leading up the match - he was pleased to hear that the Warriors had verbally committed to playing in Nelson in 2016.
- The Nelson Mail
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/10653794/Plans-for-Warriors-match-scuttled
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