Blues seeking Warriors help
Auckland: The basement Blues say they’re “reaching out” across town to the Warriors as they continue to search for the blueprint to turn round their Super Rugby fortunes. Talk about sentences you never thought you would write.
But as Blues chief executive Michael Redman spoke to the media yesterday, principally to throw his weight behind embattled coach Tana Umaga, he revealed that the success of crosscode rivals the Warriors in 2018’s NRL had them paying attention. The Blues have opened Super Rugby 2-6 and are stuck in a long drought against fellow New Zealand sides. The Warriors have burst out of the NRL blocks to win six of their first seven matches in 2018. After Redman lamented a dropoff in attendance that saw just under 12,000 attend last Friday’s 34-16 defeat to the Highlanders at Eden Park, he was asked if the team across town might be claiming some of those fans who might not return.
“Inevitably,” he replied. “We’re delighted for the Warriors, we know them, we have a relationship with them, and we’re very pleased for what they’re achieving this year.
“We can see in our social media that some fans are choosing to go and support them, and in the end all we can do is try to win those fans back by performances we put out week by week.”
Told the Warriors-St George game had bucked usual trends to outrate the Blues-Highlanders clash in a straight head to head on Sky, Redman replied: “It wouldn’t surprise me given the rich vein of form the Warriors are in and where we’re up to at the moment.”
The Blues boss was then asked whether he had spoken to his Warriors counterpart about their turnaround.
“I haven’t spoken to Cameron [George] but we have reached out to the Warriors,” he said. “They’re happy to share their insights into their journey the last few years. That’s the nature of sport. We’re all pretty collegial and we share what we can to help everyone get better.”
Redman said he was content he was doing all he could to set the Blues up for success.
“My job is to make sure the coaches and players have the resources they need to succeed. Some of those are physical things like the building we’ve shifted into, and others are support systems, funding and resources to provide a stable environment where they feel they can succeed.
“I’m happy I’m doing all I can to support our coaches, and give them what they need, and ask for, to help them to retain and recruit the best players.”
Redman said the Blues were tracking well financially and that the relationship with the provincial unions in the region was as strong as he’d known it.
“Our relationship with Auckland rugby is at an all-time high in my time here. Their coach is in and out here, we work with their high-performance staff, and we support recruiting, as we do with Harbour and Northland. “Those relationships are now one of our success stories.”