"You can't hold a huge event such as that on that infield without causing damage and it rained in the middle of it," he said. "We understood that it was part of the risk when we did it."
He was not aware of what the estimated cost of repairs would be. Sports Park chief executive Jock Mackintosh was unavailable for comment.
The precinct is home to Hastings Athletics Club. Yesterday its chairman Sharee Jones said they were hopeful the damage would be repaired soon - with training for nationals coming up.
"Going into this they [the Sports Park] did assure us that any damage to the track would be fixed," she said.
"There is damage to the track itself, but its not as great as it potentially could have been. The inner field of the track will need a complete overhaul, the inner grass area is going to have to be completely re sown, there's no doubt about that".
She said she was confident the park would be repaired, adding maintenance staff were already doing a "fantastic" job water blasting the venue, and "trying to get it back to what it was".
Mr Graham had not yet been to the park, but was told repairs were underway on damage to the grassed area and "minor" damage to the track - citing indentations which occurred during the clean up.
"Any damage to the track is bad," he said. "You're going to get collateral if you do events as big as that, with 15,000, 20,000 people every day.
"Given the success of the event and the hugeness of it the damage overall to the park or the impact to the park is minimal."
Park user Dean Hulls, father of champion Hawke's Bay sprinter Georgia Hulls, had also noticed damage at the park - such as tears in the track.
He said it was unfortunate there was damage but this could have been outside organisers' control.
However he also felt the benefits of the event surpassed any negatives: "There's nothing they could have done to mitigate what's happened you've had 50,000 people go through the stadium which is awesome for Hawke's Bay."
At this stage the economic impact of the event was unknown, however Mr Graham said it would have been "phenomenal".
Te Matatini chief executive Carl Ross could not be reached for comment. Te Matatini chairman Selwyn Parata said he had not heard about any damage to the park.
Te Matatini Ngati Kahungunu rohe committee chair Narelle Huata said returns back to the park and Hawke's Bay from the event were far above any cost for repairing damage.
An event with the magnitude of Te Matatini was "always going to have repercussions", she said.
"The trustee's and the management of the sports park went into the event with their eyes open."