IT'S NOT a warm night. I pull up in Queen St, Thursday night, as close as I can get to Memorial Park. It's not that close. The streets are crowded with parked cars and, in typical no-worries fashion, many parkers have opted for commercial driveways. After all, who's going to care? It's nearly 7pm, and the only show in town is the night game between Hurricanes and Chiefs development squads.
To me, the evening reminds me powerfully of families walking down to Trust Porirua Park for the night game, or even longer ago, when I attended big games at Christchurch's Jade Stadium. Like there, kids are walking to Memorial Park with blankets and animal fur hats, and parents are fussing with their woollen hats and scarves. There's merchandise on hand, and kids are eager to get some - particularly the flags. Everyone's had dinner, with the hot dog cart to pick up the shortfall, and it's obviously a family night out for many.
This is why the money got spent to refurbish Memorial Park, and you can see every dollar of it when you go to one of these evening games. Entertainment has switched to evenings. The afternoon game still works as part of New Zealand's culture, but you can't lose if it can be played at night. The complexity of weekends has complicated our lives. With our new turf, it doesn't have to.
But it is more than just logistics. The evening game is about atmosphere, and Memorial Park, on Thursday night, more than lived up to what Super 15 entertainment is supposed to be about. People who go to those games expect fireworks, cheerleaders and fan fervour. Granted, it wasn't at that level, but there's nothing to stop that from happening.
The novelty of the yearly pre-season Super 15 match, provided to the "province" as it was in Eketahuna this year, is a great idea, but I think it's time to have a Westpac Stadium-style pre-season hit-out at Memorial Park, under lights, with fireworks, and rock the town. No longer do you have the stand casting this huge contrasting winter shadow over play. I warn you, it's not warm, but as far as I'm concerned, that's how it's supposed to be. Make sure you support it.