Warriors want new waterfront stadium with the Blues, Auckland Council interested
DAVID LONG
Last updated 14:55, February 19 2016
Warriors managing director Jim Doyle wants the club to move to a central Auckland stadium when their new deal runs out in 2028.
Regional Facilities Auckland and the Warriors announced on Friday that the NRL club would remain at Mt Smart Stadium until 2028, but when that contract ends Doyle would like a new stadium in the heart of the city, which would be shared with the Blues.
It would spell the end of Eden Park and Mt Smart Stadium, but Doyle believes this would make Auckland a more attractive city.
"To me, a city like Auckland deserves a downtown stadium," Doyle said.
"All public transport leads there, there are restaurants and cafes and it would be so vibrant.
"It could be shared between the Warriors, the Blues, soccer. So we could have games there on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and each team would pick up a lot more fans because it would be easier to get to.
"For me, it's the only logical outcome for the city and possibly the country. I think it will happen, it's just a case of when."
Auckland came close to having a waterfront stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, when it was being weighed up whether to improve Eden Park or build a new stadium.
The Labour government in 2006 announced its preference for the waterfront stadium, so too did Auckland City Council, but the Auckland Regional Council voted unanimously against it.
"A massive opportunity was lost, but that doesn't mean to say that the right thing can't happen some time," Doyle said.
"In Melbourne, you can walk from the city to AAMI Park, or to the tennis or cricket, it's just stunning and that's why Melbourne is known as a sporting city.
"Can you imagine if you had a venue like that on Auckland's waterfront, an iconic landmark, where there are events happening all of the time, whether it be concerts, rugby league games, rugby union games or soccer matches?
"It would make the city more alive."
The debate over whether there should be a central Auckland stadium is set to rage again, especially as Regional Facilities Auckland CEO Chris Brooks says it's something that needs to be investigated.
"Quite a lot of the feedback we've had is that there's a need for a national stadium," Brooks said.
"That's a rectangular one, where you can play rugby, rugby league, football and have concerts.
"There's also the need to have a round oval like we want to develop at Western Springs.
"Our view would be that this is something the city needs to think about and we need to start investigating whether that's possible or not."
A casualty of a new stadium would be Eden Park, which was redeveloped for $256 million for the Rugby World Cup.
"It would have to be part of the debate, on where Eden Park fits in," Brooks said.
"You either re-invest in Eden Park, because it will need further investment, and that becomes your rectangular stadium. Or you do something else."
Regional Facilities Auckland's original stadium plan was for the Warriors to move to North Harbour Stadium, speedway to go to Mt Smart and cricket to relocate to Western Springs.
With the Warriors remaining at Mt Smart for the next 12 years, RFA has announced speedway will remain at Western Springs until early 2019.
"We are still going to work with speedway to find an appropriate home for them," Brooks said.
"They work under an environmental court order, in terms of the number of events they can have.
"We're working with them, because we want to be able to grow that sport, but we have to find an appropriate venue for that to occur."
Brooks said they still want cricket to move to Western Springs eventually and suggested that in time an AFL team could come to Auckland.
"Our intention is still that Western Springs will be developed as an oval where we can play test cricket, 50-over games and other sports such as AFL," he said.
"AFL have made it quite clear that one of their next points of expansion is Auckland.
"Initially they'll probably have one of their teams playing a number of games here and my guess is that develops over time."
