On what was dubbed "Blue Friday" six years ago, 15,000 Northlanders went along to Okara Park. Photo / File
On what was dubbed "Blue Friday" six years ago, 15,000 Northlanders went along to Okara Park. Photo / File
Faithful play role again in Taniwha top season
Six years ago, it was Northlanders' bums on seats that saved the Taniwha from sliding down a division. Now, Northlanders have again helped keep the team going.
In 2008, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) sought to demote Northland from the professional Air NZ Cup to the amateur Heartland Cup competition - mainly because of struggling finances and low player numbers.
At the time, a campaign called "Save the Taniwha - Stop the Drop", devised and promoted by the Northern Advocate and More FM, saw the Northland public get out to "Save the Taniwha" from falling into the amateur ranks.
Northlanders essentially stood up to the NZRU to show their disapproval as 15,000 turned up to watch Bay of Plenty play the Taniwha at Okara Park in defiance, an occasion dubbed "Blue Friday".
Now, four days after the Taniwha lost 26-21 to Hawke's Bay in an arm-wrestle of a semifinal, the Northland public can pat themselves on the back for helping the team get there.
Jone Macilai, Taniwha wing, scored one of Northland’s two tries against Hawke’s Bay as the team lost 26-21 in what was their first semifinal appearance since 1997.
Not only have the Taniwha delivered with on-field results this year, appearing in a semifinal for the first time in 17 years but, during the past two years, the Northland Rugby Union (NRU) has backed it up with financial results.
The NRU has gone back-to-back years in the black, after sitting on about $500,000 in debt in 2008 as growing mutterings circulated for the board of directors to fall on its collective sword. And it could very well go another year in the black.
NRU chief executive officer Jeremy Parkinson, who came into power just after the Stop the Drop campaign, has a sense of pride in knowing how far the province has come.
"We've got players tied into the community with having to play club rugby here, and there are a lot of local born and bred boys in the team," Parkinson said, adding there was also a strong team culture.
"Looking back, you could say the best decision was made for rugby."
Parkinson said the current numbers supported the NZRU's decision not to drop the Taniwha - even though they had to be persuaded strongly by the Northland public.
The NRU boasts the ninth-highest number of players with 7150, sitting sixth in terms of players 21 and over, of which 57 per cent are Maori.
"We touch a fair bit of the community and now we're punching above our weight, but we've still got challenges geography wise and with commercial income," Parkinson said, adding there was a big difference between the NRU and the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union.
"Hawke's Bay is right on the salary cap, so is a million-dollar team, with 15 expected Super Rugby players next year."
The Bay's 15 expected Super players is compared to Northland's one confirmed Super Rugby player, with potentially another one or two in the pipeline.
All season, Taniwha coach Derren Witcombe had mentioned the crowd support as playing a part in the team's success. Take another bow, Northland.
Witcombe hoped Northland's ITM Cup semifinal appearance went a long way to repaying the faith of the public, who stopped the drop six years ago.
He said the team's loss on Friday was a disappointing way to end the season but was thankful the team hadn't been dropped in 2008 as the NZRU wanted.
"I don't think it would have been good for the competition to drop us. I guess us having a season like this has repaid the NZRU, and the region as well, to say we can play at this level."
Even though the results from "Blue Friday" and last Friday were the same, with losses on-field, Northlanders were the winners at the end of day.
