STADIUM STOUSH

The Warriors are considering taking legal action against the Auckland council over a perceived lack of maintenance at their controversial home ground, Mt Smart Stadium.

The f ight for Mt Smart Stadium could be about to escalate f urther, with major tenants t he Warriors contemplating getting t he lay wers involved.

Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) want t he Warriors to move f rom t heir home ground of 20 years to eit her Eden Park or QBE Stadium in Albany but t he club is resisting.

One club source said “t he gloves are definitely off” and if t he case goes to court, t he Warriors will argue t hat t he council has failed to maintain t he ground to t he standard required for t he NRL.

That’s in response to an RFA claim that Mt Smart would require $70 million to get up to scratch.

RFA chief executive Robert Domm said t he stadium had been properly maintained.

“There may well be some historical issues but t he RFA team has done an exceptional job to maintain t hat stadium with a l imited budget. And a lot of t hings are done behind t he scenes t hat t he Warriors may not necessarily see.”

The Warriors are considering legal action against the Auckland Council over their perceived failure to maintain Mt Smart Stadium to an acceptable standard.

Last week, Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) announced that Albany’s QBE Stadium, along with the previously mooted option of Eden Park, were the only possible future homes for the Warriors, with Mt Smart out of the picture.

That’s because of a renovation price tag in excess of $70 million to restore, upgrade and futureproof the Penrose facility.

Those developments sparked a fierce response from Warriors chairman Bill Wavish — “the gloves are definitely off” according to one club official.

Now the Herald on Sunday understands that the NRL club could be about to launch legal action.

There is a view at the club that the current state of Mt Smart — the RFA insist the stadium is “near the end of its economic life cycle” — is due partly to the lack of maintenance undertaken by the council since the Warriors started playing there in 1995.

If the case goes to court, the Warriors will argue that the council (and latterly the RFA) failed to meet their obligations to ensure that the ground, redeveloped for the 1990 Commonwealth Games, was maintained to an acceptable NRL standard.

There is also the ongoing dispute over the booking of the two Eagles concerts next March, which the club claims breached their rights as primary leaseholder.

RFA chief executive Robert Domm was reluctant to comment on the prospect of a legal battle.

“There are processes that need to be followed as part of the licence agreement,” says Domm.

“If the Warriors make such allegations publicly, they will be in breach of that agreement. These processes involve commercial matters and are confidential.”

Domm disputes the assertion that Mt Smart Stadium has been neglected.

“It has been maintained to an acceptable NRL level — there is no doubt about that,” says Domm. “There may well be some historical issues but the RFA team has done an exceptional job to maintain that stadium with a limited budget.

“And a lot of things are done behind the scenes that the Warriors may not necessarily see.”

Domm says the RFA has increased seating at both ends of the ground, added a replay screen, recently spent $600,000 to address safety and access issues and have completed a $1.5 million upgrade of the Warriors’ training field.

However, parts of the ground need serious work.

Some of the seating is beginning to rust off in the Colin Kay Stand (which needs a major overhaul), the gravel carparks, changing rooms and media facilities are far from adequate, and a form of shrink wrap was used in one grandstand during the 2012 season after fears that the glass walls could shatter and fall on spectators.