NRL: Eden Park calls to Warriors
Mt Smart Stadium is to remain the home of the Warriors - but league probably hasn't seen the last of Eden Park.
Playing matches at the upgraded home of rugby next season hadn't yet been considered, however the club is holding discussions with Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) - the body created to run much of the Super City's infrastructure.
Those discussions have revolved around how the Warriors can increase flagging attendances. With a crowd of 38,412 having attended the season-opener at Eden Park, the option of switching more matches to the rugby stronghold is certain to be on the agenda.
Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah confirmed the Eden Park match had been highly profitable for the club and the stadium, but said it was too early to say if or when the Warriors would return.
"We haven't even started to consider next year's programme, so I don't want to predict that we are going to be playing there at all," he said.
RFA chief executive John Brockies described discussions with the club as at "whiteboard level".
While nothing concrete appears to be in motion, the FA board have been discussing a long-term business plan for Mt Smart behind closed doors.
Shifting the Warriors permanently to Eden Park wasn't on the table, Brockies said. "The mandate and expectation of City Hall and of very loyal league supporters is that we'll try to make better use of Mt Smart," he said. "But we also need to look more broadly across the region and see what else we could do."
That "what else" would appear to be switching big matches such as season-openers, double headers, finals and test matches to Eden Park.
Scurrah insisted the club had no plans to ditch Mt Smart. "We have not considered any other option than Mt Smart as our home," he said. But whether the Warriors will remain at a venue that also hosts Oceania Soccer and Auckland Athletics long term is unclear.
The club's preferred option is to remain at Mt Smart. That could be contingent on the creaking stadium receiving a significant upgrade. In the build-up to the season-opener against the Eels at Eden Park, Scurrah said the days when fans would accept temporary seating on scaffolds and portable toilets were over. The erection of a stand at the open northern end of the ground - with an improvement in changing and catering facilities - are likely to be high on the Warriors' list of demands.
"We are really committed to providing fans with the best facilities available, and what they would expect at international venues these days," Scurrah said. "Clearly that would require some improvements to Mt Smart Stadium."
Brockies' views on upgrading seating capacity at Mt Smart appeared to present a Catch 22.
"We need to have a business model to understand how [the Warriors] might build attendances, for what sort of games, how frequently and when we might get to a critical mass that some expansion might be merited," he said. "But if [the club] is very successful we may already have a solution elsewhere."
That solution would be to play games that draw larger attendances at Eden Park.
However, the Eels match was unpopular with some hard core supporters and there are concerns over the increased costs associated with Eden Park. Fixture conflicts with rugby and resource consent restrictions on the number of night matches that can be played at Eden Park also create complications.
Mothballing Mt Smart, or keeping it predominantly for concerts, was also an unlikely option, Brockies said.
"There is no discussion of any option that would see Mt Smart not being used for some purpose. The starting point is that it is a very highly regarded league venue. It has got a strong loyalty in its customer base but it does have some issues in terms of capacity and quality of service."
Both parties appear to be waiting for the other to signal their intent.
"The quicker we can get to a solution that works commercially for them then the quicker we can get to an investment proposal with confidence knowing that we will have the support of other users of Mt Smart," Brockies said.
Scurrah suggested the ball was more in FA's court. "Once we get a better picture of the City's view on the strategy for the venues and events to be played at them that will certainly help us make a decision going forward." That decision would likely be made in June or July, he said.
