Stadium hope for Warriors

Mt Smart Stadium is seen as the spiritual home of the Warriors. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Warriors and their fans are being offered a lifeline to stay at Mt Smart Stadium.

The Auckland Council has been attempting to force the Warriors out of Mt Smart to either Eden Park or QBE Stadium in a reshuffle of the city's stadiums.

But Chris Brooks, the new face charged with sorting out the controversial stadium strategy, says he has an open mind about the Warriors staying long-term at Mt Smart.

"I don't think anything is off the table [with the strategy]," said Mr Brooks, who began work as chief executive of Regional Facilities Auckland on March 16.

The council has given Mr Brooks 12 months to undertake a "good faith" review of the stadium strategy with the sporting codes and report back.

The strategy has antagonised the Warriors, who were first told they were moving to Eden Park and then QBE Stadium in Albany when their lease at Mt Smart expires in 2018.

Mr Brooks said if the Warriors ended up staying at Mt Smart, Regional Facilities would need to discuss capital costs with the franchise.

Figures of $25 million and $73.4 million have been bandied about to upgrade Mt Smart Stadium, the latter to bring it up to international standard with seating for 30,000.

The council has $30 million in the kitty for the stadium strategy. The last plan includes a $12 million makeover of QBE Stadium to host the Warriors, North Harbour Rugby, some Super Rugby and top-level football.

Mr Brooks said the strategy review was not just about the Warriors. There was a need to solve things for speedway, cricket and athletics.

"We will end up with a whole lot of wishes and then we may have to make some decisions about how these things come together," he said.

Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle said the club's fans were very clear they wanted to stay at Mt Smart.

Mr Doyle, formerly the NRL's chief operating officer, said after meeting Mr Brooks he formed the impression that he had an open mind about the stadium strategy and would consider all the options.

He said if the council were going to have a policy of sporting codes contributing financially to stay at a stadium, the rule should apply to all codes. Soccer should contribute to the upgrade of QBE Stadium and the same should apply for future upgrades to Eden Park, he said.

Eden Park Trust Board chairman Doug McKay said Eden Park would love to do a deal with the Warriors for the club's main games.

After Eden Park fell out with Regional Facilities last year over the stadium strategy - leading to the proposal for the Warriors to move to QBE Stadium - Mr McKay was keen to play a part again. Eden Park is owned and operated by an independent trust.

Councillor John Watson, a strong critic of the stadium strategy, said the cost of upgrading Mt Smart had been overstated - replacing the lower west stand and new toilet facilities would cost less than $10 million.

Stadium games

• Stadium strategy announced in 2012.
• Warriors were to move to Eden Park, speedway to Mt Smart, cricket to Western Springs.
• Eden Park took exception to strategy last year.
• This led to plan for Warriors to move to QBE Stadium at Albany.
• Council announced strategy review last month.
• New strategy boss says all options are on the table.