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Kiwis struggle to sell tickets as Tonga paint Auckland red


Abicus

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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=12140746

The Kiwis know they need to win back the support of the nation as they face the reality of being outshone on their home patch by Mate Ma'a Tonga.

Ticket sales for Saturday's triple-header transtasman test against Australia at Mt Smart Stadium are sluggish, while World Cup darlings Tonga are set to play in front of a sell-out crowd in next week's clash against the Kangaroos.

The Kiwis are struggling to get local fans behind them after a nightmare past 18 months of poor results and off-field dramas.

Mt Smart has a capacity of 25,600 but New Zealand Rugby League boss Greg Peters admits they will be happy if 15,000 turn up to watch them take on the world champions.

"We're hoping to get a crowd of around 15,000 at the end of the day but if we get three wins on the weekend people will say 'I wish I was there watching that'," Peters told Radio Sport.

It's a different story for the hugely popular Tongan team, who arrived in Auckland to a hero's welcome with almost 5000 diehard fans turning out at a meet-and-greet in Manukau midweek, while there are few tickets left available for their October 20 test against Australia.

The Kiwis will eventually host Tonga in New Zealand next June, in a fixture that replaces the controversial midseason fixture against England in Denver.

Peters concedes the Kiwis and NZRL have a lot of work to do to earn the trust of fans after last year's premature World Cup exit and a run of negative publicity.

"There's no doubt about that," said Peters. "We took a big hit last year and that's why I'm calling it a new era and a rebuild of the faith in the black and white shirt at the senior level particularly."

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So, are there any implications for the Kiwi tour of England? Would a crowd of 15,000 be decent for the Hull match for example?

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I think the Kiwis could have done with a Tonga test themselves, that would have gotna sell out and given the opportunity to show the passion hey have and the performance they can give.  The fact they can sell out Tonga shows there must be money there (kiwis could have played them next week if they’d thought ahead before Aus got in).

As for the tour, it would be good to see a sales update - part of me worries it may be poorly attended as a reflection on the lack of faith in the RFL at present.  Hope I’m wrong.

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Tonga v New Zealand next year can sell out Eden Park in Auckland. With a capacity of 50,000 - I've got no doubts.

What are the pass marks for the Autumn Series?

Hull: 18,000  (cap 25,400)

Anfield: 25,000 (cap 54, 074)

Leeds: 24,000 (cap 37,890)

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2 minutes ago, Abicus said:

Tonga v New Zealand next year can sell out Eden Park in Auckland. With a capacity of 50,000 - I've got no doubts.

What are the pass marks for the Autumn Series?

Hull: 18,000  (cap 25,400)

Anfield: 25,000 (cap 54, 074)

Leeds: 24,000 (cap 37,890)

For me pass would be Hull 20k, Leeds 30k, Anfield 40k

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After all the ###### that has gone on recently with NZRL & Kidwells coaching, Taumalolo being left on the sideline for most of the game when the kiwi's played OZ, Draw with Scotland, Captain and another player on CCTV sniffing coke after the ANZAC test, last minute defection of Taumalolo and others to Tonga for the world cup, loses to Tonga and then Fiji at the world cup. The NZRL should be over the moon with 15K upwards crowd.  

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NZ should have been all over this with Tonga to try and make as much cash as possible. The only reason they are playing the Aussies and not Tonga is that the NRL sponsor match fees for NZ players for Trans-Tasman tests. Do they realise that Aus-NZ, Aus-Tonga is 2/3 parts of a tri series? Why is this #### always last minute and always arranged on the back of a fag packet?

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Pretty fickle support from the Kiwi public.

A bad 18 months! I was born in 1970 and I never witnessed a GB/England tournament win or a series win vs. the Kangaroos.... now that's a nightmare. 

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1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Pretty fickle support from the Kiwi public.

A bad 18 months! I was born in 1970 and I never witnessed a GB/England tournament win or a series win vs. the Kangaroos.... now that's a nightmare. 

Well there is under 5 million people in NZ, rugby league is not the number 1 sport in the country and the team has been extremely poor for the last 2 years. The only other NZ sports that would get more than 15,000 a one off end of season game is Rugby Union and maybe one day cricket. NZ League has returned to the level of support they had before winning the Tri Nation, World Cup and Four Nations.

Meanwhile the Tonga side had one of the best ever performances in there sporting history at last years world cup and as a result almost half of the 60,000 Tongans that live in NZ will be at the Game against Australia.

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On 10/11/2018 at 8:14 AM, Odsal Outlaw said:

I think the Kiwis could have done with a Tonga test themselves, that would have gotna sell out and given the opportunity to show the passion hey have and the performance they can give.  The fact they can sell out Tonga shows there must be money there (kiwis could have played them next week if they’d thought ahead before Aus got in).

As for the tour, it would be good to see a sales update - part of me worries it may be poorly attended as a reflection on the lack of faith in the RFL at present.  Hope I’m wrong.

I agree. I think the Kiwis would have been better playing Tonga or even Samoa, get a good healthy crowd, and maybe a win.

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21 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I agree. I think the Kiwis would have been better playing Tonga or even Samoa, get a good healthy crowd, and maybe a win.

Dont know about that as the All Blacks would beat Tonga by 50 points in rugby union. Another loss by the Kiwi's to Tonga right now would not be good for rebuilding there public image.

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5 minutes ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

Dont know about that as the All Blacks would beat Tonga by 50 points in rugby union. Another loss by the Kiwi's to Tonga right now would not be good for rebuilding there public image.

I'm not sure of the relevance.

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1 hour ago, deluded pom? said:

Maybe the relevance Dave is that the Kiwis are frightened of losing to Tonga again and the bad press that that entails?

That's sport. Are we into acting cowardly now? Tonga doing well can build up the rivalry, because one thing is for sure, the NZ v kangaroos games are hardly growing the game.

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6 minutes ago, Dave T said:

That's sport. Are we into acting cowardly now? Tonga doing well can build up the rivalry, because one thing is for sure, the NZ v kangaroos games are hardly growing the game.

I’m not disagreeing with you Dave just trying to point out what the relevance of k136’s comment may be.

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1 hour ago, deluded pom? said:

I’m not disagreeing with you Dave just trying to point out what the relevance of k136’s comment may be.

It was the point about the All Blacks. We shouldn't be avoiding games because teams may lose in other sports.

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1 hour ago, Dave T said:

It was the point about the All Blacks. We shouldn't be avoiding games because teams may lose in other sports.

Guess you need to understand New Zealand's sporting landscape Rugby Union is the Number 1 sport, like soccer in the UK. The All Black would beat Tonga by 50+ points. Right now the Kiwi's side have had 2 really bad years. Another loss to Tonga makes the NZ public think Rugby League is in even more ####. A loss to world Champions Australia who everyone knows are tough to beat will not be the end of the world. A win against Tonga would be good but a win over World Champions Australia and the Kiwi's and NZRL will have instant redemption for the last 2 years from the NZ public....

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Considering NZ is such a wet country like the UK, I’m surprised there are so many uncovered seating areas at Mt Smart... it’s Odsal-esque.

Australia breaking the NZ line at will here.   Hopefully Madge will sort that out by half time so we have a contest.

“There is perhaps no better a demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.”   Carl Sagan

 

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