Napier’s McLean Park not ready for club rugby finals

Napier City Council has been accused of backtracking on a “long-standing agreement”, meaning the green, green grass of home used for the April 6 Tom Jones concert at McLean Park won’t be ready for club finals rugby this weekend.

With the ground’s last sports event having been a club cricket final, the ground was closed immediately after the gig 13 weeks ago for pre-planned turf replacement, but, re-sown on May 9. It is deemed to have not recovered in time for the four grand finals weekend matches that were to have been played on Friday night and Saturday.

They will now be played at club grounds from Napier to Waipukurau, putting paid to the notion of a grand finals weekend at the park, aiming for the past five years to be one of the biggest community sports events in Hawke’s Bay each year.

McLean Park when the turf replacement started in mid-April. The ground was to have been ready for this weekend’s club rugby finals and, while not available yet, is expected to recover in time for a Ranfurly Shield match on July 27. Photo / NZME

Hawke’s Bay Today understands the work would have been started at least a fortnight earlier had it not been for the Welsh legend’s show.

Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union chief executive Jay Campbell: “In our opinion McLean Park is a community facility, and it should be used for community events. We’re extremely disappointed. The council has been well aware of this long-standing agreement.”

Once the home of three rugby clubs with club rugby on the oval each week in winter, it became the regular venue for the premier Maddison Trophy final at least, and since 2019 has been the home of a grand finals weekend, albeit disrupted by difficulties of the Covid years.

Finals will now be played at the home grounds of top-seeded teams, with Taradale hosting the trophy final against Napier Old Boys’ Marist on Saturday at Tareha Reserve, following the Pat Ryan Memorial Trophy Colts final between Taradale and Havelock North, which will start at 1pm.

The Hepa Paewai Memorial trophy final between Central and MAC will be played in Waipukurau starting at 3pm, and Ōtāne will host their Tom Mulligan Cup division 2 final against Napier OBM at Ōtāne Domain with a 2pm kickoff.

A division 3A Neil Thimbleby Memorial Trophy final, which hadn’t been programmed for the park, will be played between Napier Pirate and Eskview at Tamatea Park, Napier, also starting at 2pm.

A Napier City Council spokesperson said grass growth on the oval had “progressed well given the time of year” since being sown, and it was initially hoped the club matches could be played on the park this weekend.

Advice was taken from the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute, which recommended against games on the park this weekend, to ensure it would be in the best state possible for the Magpies’ match 17 days later and the Magpies’ NPC programme starting in August.

The council had been told playing four games on an immature grass surface would cause significant damage, the spokesperson said, adding repairs would be a cost to the ratepayer and that damage might not be reparable for a satisfactory surface in time for the Magpies’ season.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.