After all, what would you expect the officials to do at Eden Park if several hundred took over the ground at halftime to produce a staggering massed haka aimed at bringing the "beaten" home side back to life?
But heck, it was part of the day, and one way or other the locals - and those former locals who travelled back from other parts of the country just to be part of it - were going to have a party.
That started before the game finished, with many invading one end of the Whakarua Park ground at the end Wanganui was aiming at, just to get a look at the East Coast's increasingly hectic raids at the far end.
It was all about heat - heat from the sun, heat from the massed locals, and heat from the Coast - as Wanganui lost its dominance, lost several key players with injury and yellow cards, and lost the close calls.
In the end Wanganui lost the game 29-27 with the winning try coming only 90 seconds before the end , but those final 10 minutes had an inevitable look about them - one just knew that the Coast were going to grab it.
Wanganui just ran out of puff and players. When young Nick Harding was yellow-carded in the 70th minute for an alleged intentional knockdown, Wanganui faced the final 10 minutes with a 10-point lead and just 14 players and an opposition that was building to a crescendo.
And like a pack of killer dogs focusing in on a sick animal, East Coast pounced at Wanganui's under-numbered left side.
First replacement wing Mike King went across and John Semple kicked a great conversion to bring it to 27-24.
Wanganui got back into East Coast's half but the home team broke out and (rightly) won a contentious lineout call when Tom Teaki chipped Andrew Evans and forced Evans to knee the ball into touch five metres out.
Wanganui repelled that lineout drive, but gave away a penalty, and instead of going for the draw and extra time, East Coast tapped, and a ruck or two later fullback Verdon Bartlett scored - again where Wanganui was short.
The crowd were all over the place, Bartlett was carried lengthwise up the field and the conversion couldn't be taken until they were (half) cleared.
And that was it. Wanganui forced a knock-on at the kickoff, a scrum was called, but then Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri said it was time.
And all hell broke loose.
Incidentally, Harding's reflex action when making the tackle and knocking the ball should not reflect on the young wing. He played strongly and has been outstanding in his first season.
The yellow card was a judgement call made by the ref which might or might not have been correct.
Wanganui's first 50 minutes was absolutely outstanding, with almost total forward control through the likes of Fraser Hammond, Nick Cranston, Peter Rowe and Vaan Rahina, backed-up by superb play from Rhema Sagote, Areta Lama and Matt Koubaridis in the inside backs.
Why the stunning turnaround?
Injuries to those inside backs forced a total reshuffle, the forwards lost control of the ball and Wanganui was forced to chase, tackle (and miss tackles) and finally the legs maybe went in the heat.
East Coast's wings Tau Moeke and Whaimotu Craft-Chemis produced outstanding attack to get their team into the game, and big lock Karahuna Blackman was a second half hero.
And that crowd was unreal.
In the end, it was all a bit too much for Wanganui.