The paltry crowds for the playoffs in the Air New Zealand Cup have been a sight for sore eyes.
After 13 weeks of upsets, fairytales, vociferous lobbying and intense rugby rivalry – the fans failed to show up for the semi-finals in Wellington and Christchurch.
Apparantly the thrill of watching their teams take on Hawke’s Bay and Southland wasn’t much of a drawcard for the general rugby public in the two dominant provinces of recent years.
In Canterbury country, the players were reduced to cruising the city shopping malls to try and drum up extra ticket sales for the final at AMI Stadium.
The under-construction stadium wasn't even halfway to its reduced capacity of 26,000 for the traditional highlight of the provincial season. Not a good look.
That's exacerbated by TV – because the cameras are facing the vast stand which is being erected for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.
All this indifference is pretty galling to the likes of Manawatu, Tasman and Northland. These are all provinces earmarked for the chop when the NZRU trims its elite competition from 14 to 10 teams.
Palmerston North in particular has been a hot-bed of provincial pride, with big, boisterous crowds for the mighty Manawatu’s home games. Their hardcore fans – known as the “Bucket-heads” – have been one of the highlights. Almost football-like in their parochialism.
The Turbos managed 4 wins at the top level, and hauled in 8 bonus points under the expert coaching of Dave Rennie, one of the rising stars of the NZ rugby scene. .
But the fanatical support and the encouraging, enterprising display is almost certain to be the last for the province at the top level, as the NZRU carries through with its threatened cull.
They finished above three Blues franchise brothers – North Harbour, Northland and Counties.
Canterbury and Wellington proved a class above in their competition at the end of the day, but the half-hearted support base must be a major worry for the national union, which has the delicate balancing act between economic realities, television deals and popular support.
Axing three teams from the Blues region would be far too radical to contemplate.