Hockey: Final switched to avoid clash with rugby

Not everyone is happy with the decision to switch rugby's Super 12 final from Saturday to Sunday afternoon.

The New Zealand Hockey Federation has brought the final of the Lion Foundation national league between Wellington and Auckland forward to 3pm on Saturday from midday on Sunday to avoid a clash with the rugby final between the Crusaders and Highlanders in Dunedin.

And Auckland Warriors chief executive Trevor McKewen, who immediately saw a clash with the Warriors' home game against Parramatta - scheduled for exactly the same time as the Super 12 final - yesterday raised the issue with the NRL.

"We let them know of our concerns," he said. "But my gut feeling is they won't be changing anything.

"We suggested they might consider switching the Saturday night game between Canterbury and Manly to Sunday, thus allowing us to play on Saturday night but they said the game at Stadium Australia had already been heavily promoted.

"They are locked into pay television contracts and programme games five weeks ahead.

"While we don't expect the clash [with the rugby] to affect our crowd at Ericsson Stadium significantly, there could be quite an impact on our television ratings." - Terry Maddaford