Dear Harbour Rugby

As a new resident to the North Harbour Union catchmount area I felt an overwhelming need to email you my thoughts as a outsider on all things Harbour Rugby.

Take my initial excitement, and how it was almost immediately drained from my soul, when I attended my first North Harbour game at the tail end of last season only to be greeted by an almost empty stadium lacking in atmosphere and passion. Those who did seem to show any serious passion for there team were frowned upon and scowled at from those who sat high in their corporate entertainment boxes.

Coming from a country where football is the number one sport and tribalism is at the centre of all things that go with the game, I found it staggering that a similar sense of tribalism was not entrenched within the country's number one sport and rugby fraternity.

As I searched for answers I put it down to a poor season coming to an end and sought out a challenge for myself to get involved with a grassroots club and see if that passion was around. I believe I found it and had the pleasure of working with some fantastically motivated people who have rugby at their core and of their community.

You can imagine my disappointment when I came to the end of the season and had to watch and listen to the nonsense and babble that has been fed from fortress Harbour Stadium.

A coach who seems to have missed selecting some of the solid, experienced and hardened club players that I witnessed this year, and has instead stuck with old faithful that seem to have delivered average performance last year and are now only a year older and a year slower. From what I witnessed during the year at the club game I ask where the players are who delivered Takapuna an 11th title, or the players who were seemingly allowed to leave last years team for other regions??

A union who from what I have witnessed have failed to deliver the fundamental basics to its clubs, namely financial support, an even treatment policy of all of its clubs,no matter what club the old allegiances relate to, and a set up that works hard to integrate the local community to rugby. From what I have seen, there seems to be very few asian players playing the senior game yet there is a potential player base that may be unparalleled in any other area of NZ. Is North Shore City not the fastest growing city in NZ?

So, this leads me to my next question. If the Union was a private sector business and the fundamental failures are obvious to me, a mere outsider, how long should it be before someone takes responsibility for the drivle that we are forced to watch and listen to from the Union and face the bullet? Is it the coach who seems to be unable to gel his players into a cohesive unit and deliver winning rugby? Is it the marketing department who seem devoid of ideas that could entice a family away from KFC or the foodcourt at the mall on a weekend to support their local team? or is it the pea headed bean counters that call themselves the chiefs that should go.

Fans are fickle! They want a winning team, a product that excites them and an environment that gives them comfort, fun and a strong sense of belonging. If they can't get that, they will seek it elsewhere. Maybe football can give it to them and Glenfield Rovers FC will be the eventual beneficiaries. Looking from the outside in, there seems like there is plenty of work needing done and less and less time to do it.

It may be poor Northland and Tasman that are due to suffer in the not too distant future, maybe it will be North Harbout the year after. Actions speak louder than words and without a decent product on the field, it may not take long to find out who goes and who stays.

Pivac out!

Yours
Murray