Opinion: Baypark's shocking scars tell a sorry story

Baypark is in a mess following the jetsprints event in January. Photo/Andrew Warner

On Friday night photographer George Novak and I took the relaxing drive over to Rotorua's International Stadium to watch the Chiefs and Blues in a Super Rugby warm-up match.

The Chiefs were impressive in their attention to detail, how well structured they were and the lack of mistakes in a game played at a fast clip.

There was time for our boy Sam Cane to show how good he is with ball in hand - and how big he is after a summer in the gym - until he fell awkwardly in a tackle and hobbled off with ankle and knee injuries that will sideline him for three to four weeks.

A great crowd of around 7000 turned up in Rotorua and I guess many had come to see the Bay's prodigal son Benji Marshall back home playing rugby after 12 years away as a rugby league star in Sydney.

If they did then they were out of luck. He was as awful as the rest of the Blues and surprisingly did not even have a club first-five's punting and drop kicking skills. He was hesitant on attack, nowhere to be seen on defence, and up against the classy Aaron Cruden looked out of his depth. Bay first-five Chris Noakes looked the business when he replaced Marshall.

It was the only game the Chiefs have scheduled for Bay of Plenty in 2014 which is a major disappointment. Baypark Stadium will never get another game allocated by the Chiefs and neither should it.

In every aspect it is below par and the photo above taken on Saturday shows the pitch will forever be scarred after the jetsprint boats had their fun there last month.

Bay of Plenty Rugby's chief executive Mike Rogers and I discussed the situation yesterday and we are both concerned about the Baypark pitch. Mike said Bay of Plenty Rugby will need to be convinced by Baypark management that the field will be suitable to host ITM Cup games, and there are high standards for the ITM Cup that New Zealand Rugby sets.

Sure the grass will grow back but the photo shows the extent of the damage to the pitch, which is far greater than most rugby fans would have imagined. The outline of the temporary jetsprint course will be there forever, which television cameras will cruelly expose in August when the Steamers play there.

Rotorua is a fantastic venue in terms of the playing field, spectator and media facilities, and corporate hospitality, which is one of the reasons the National Sevens went there.

I would like to see more games allocated there - do you? Tell me what you think. Email sport@bayofplentytimes.co.nz