Editorial: Statue should mark great rugby moment

Artist Natalie Stamilla with her model of Michael Jones. The cardboard cut-out to the left is to indicate scale. Photo / Greg Bowker

Opinion

English soccer grounds are commonly adorned with statues of players and managers who have contributed outstandingly to the clubs that play there.

They provide a point of contact with the past and a point of congregation in times of triumph and tumult.

The practice has no parallel at this country's rugby grounds. It should have, starting with the redeveloped Eden Park, the site of next year's World Cup final.

Artist Natalie Stamilla has devised a giant statue of Michael Jones diving across the try line at the park in the All Blacks' match against Italy in 1987, based on a famous picture by her father, Geoff Dale.

It was the first try in the first World Cup, an event that changed the face of the national game. It would be an ideal statue for Eden Park and could be sculpted in bronze in time for next year's Cup.

The park's trust board seems little moved, however. It has commissioned a report on additional features around the stadium, and seems unconcerned that time is tight if the statue is to be completed on time.

The board should quickly give the statue the go-ahead. Ms Stamilla would surely have little trouble finding a backer to provide the $300,000 cost.

The statue would not, as some suggest, detract from other memorable moments at the park and the fine players who have graced it. On that basis, no sculpture would ever be approved.

This one simply immortalises one fabulous moment in many and, as such, would be a welcome addition to the park.