Duncan Garner: Rugby is in trouble in NZ – and the biggest issue might be the game itself
Duncan Garner: "If you want to see atmosphere, go to an Auckland FC football game – it’s seriously tribal. As is league. They make Super Rugby look like a funeral." Photo / Getty Images
When the Warriors ran out against the Broncos in Brisbane last weekend, some 50,000 packed Suncorp Stadium. It’s estimated 8000 of them were Warriors fans.
That’s 8000 Kiwis crossing the Tasman or living in Australia, turning Caxton Street into “Little Auckland”, then watching the Warriors smash Brisbane 42-12 as part of the NRL “Magic Round”, one of the biggest spectacles of the league season.
The television ratings were massive, and it became one of the most watched Sunday regular-season games in NRL history. League isn’t just growing. It’s exploding.
Compare that to what’s happening back home with rugby union. The Blues hosted the Hurricanes in Auckland hoping for 25,000 at Eden Park for its week 14 Super 14 match. They fell short. Again. They reckon around 20,000 fans turned up. Less than half full. It was still the Blues’ largest crowd of the year.
Crowds this season have hovered around the 20,000 mark for local derbies, and that’s the premium product. Against Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua? Crowd numbers barely rate a mention.
Here’s the moment that really hit me: I was at a First XV after-match function just down the road from Eden Park where they were literally giving away Blues tickets. Most weren’t even taken.
“No thanks,” I heard people say. No thanks to rugby. That would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.
This isn’t a temporary dip – rugby is in trouble in New Zealand.
Statistics from NZ Rugby and the agencies collecting data from schools show that the number of under-12 boys playing rugby has fallen 24% in just four years. Last year, a record 148 New Zealand schoolboys entered NRL pathways systems, that’s both the Warriors and the Australian clubs. I personally know several young lads, mates with my son who plays 1st XV at Mt Albert Grammar, who have signed and gone to Australia at just 15.
I know several other boys who have signed with the Warriors but also play with my son in the top MAGS rugby team. They will soon have to decide which code they prefer, and league is driving a compelling argument.