An empty field of
2020 is shaping up to be the lost year of sport as Covid-19 wreaks havoc on the industry. Dana Johannsen looks at who’s going to count the sporting cost of the turmoil caused by the pandemic.
You could say it is a sign of the times. Propped up at the entrance of Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium a small black sandwich board with stencilled lettering reads ‘‘Ground Closed’’.
It is no longer just an instruction for the public, but a grim reminder of the crisis facing the sports industry amid a far greater global health and economic one.
Mount Smart, nestled in the industrial beltway between Penrose and Onehunga, was due to open its gates this weekend for the Warriors’ first NRL home game against the Canberra Raiders.
Arguably the ugly duckling of Auckland’s sporting infrastructure, in the mid-afternoon sun, the place has a certain charm. The turf, neatly mown in perfectly even strips, looks pristine.
In the stands, ground staff are working to repair a couple of broken seats for crowds that are unlikely to appear this season.
The Warriors’ round two fixture was relocated across the Tasman, where, for now, the team must remain if they are to continue on in the Australian competition due to the 14-day self-isolation requirement for incoming passengers.
What happens beyond this weekend, no-one is certain.
The Warriors, with the backing of their families, on Friday pledged to remain in Australia for the sake of the competition. But as the NRL attempts to plow on in the face of a growing list of public health measures, travel restrictions and border shutdowns imposed to try and slow the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, the logistical challenges, too, grow more complicated by the day. It would only take one health scare among the playing population for the competition to grind to a halt.
It is within these ever-shifting parameters that Warriors chief executive Cameron George must navigate. At Warriors HQ this week he does his best to provide answers to the media. But the reality is, he doesn’t have any. Only a series of best guesses to events both real and hypothetical.
‘‘The most frustrating thing for me, and the thing that has driven me absolutely crazy, is the unknown factor. When you can’t provide clarity to your staff, your players, your fans, your members, your sponsors and corporate partners, that’s really hard and it plays on your mind. All you want to do is show good leadership and give a direction on where we’re going to go,’’ George said at a press briefing this week.
‘‘My focus has been making sure the staff, the players and their families are all up to speed – everything I know, they know, and just ensuring that we take it day by day and we have a good plan and good support around them.’’
George is one of dozens of sports bosses around the country whose leadership is being tested.
While the Warriors and Wellington
Phoenix, who as of this week are also basing themselves in Australia to ensure their A-League season can continue, are able to limp on for now behind closed doors, other teams have been sidelined with several major sports forced to suspend or cancel their seasons.
Super Rugby has been placed on hiatus for at least two weeks, NZ Cricket cut its domestic seasons short along with