Warriors, Blues share limelight
Fifteen years ago there would have been riots in the streets if someone mentioned the Warriors and Blues coming together for a doubleheader, but now it just makes sense.
As revealed by Stuff on Monday, the two Auckland teams will play a NRL/Super Rugby doubleheader at Mt Smart Stadium on March 21 against the Raiders and Brumbies.
At a press conference at Eden Park yesterday, the games were billed as a world frst for a rugby and league doubleheader.
However, that’s not the case as Harlequins did it in the UK with their league and rugby teams in 2006 and 2010. The league team is now called the London Broncos.
But while it isn’t the world first that promoters are calling it, it is a unique experience for New Zealand and it’s something that management at the Blues and Warriors spent a long time working on to pull it together.
‘‘The Blues are delighted to be a part of this event,’’ chairman Don
Mackinnon said. ‘‘This initiative is just part of the journey we want to go on next year.’’
Warriors CEO Cameron George said they will see how their joint venture goes next year before looking at whether it will be repeated, but he did say he wanted both clubs to work together more closely.
‘‘This is the start of a great relationship between the two bodies,’’ George said.
‘‘It’s clearly something we want to put in place first and foremost, not as an annual event but a oneoff at this stage.
‘‘We’ll work with the NRL and Sanzaar about what it looks like in the future, but this could be the start of a fantastic relationship and you could see new initiatives come to the forefront of sports in New Zealand.’’