Warriors pitch invaders: NRL great Paul Gallen slams Napier crowd’s antics

The red and lemon tackle of the security man all but stopped one pitch invader in his goal of a Centennial Stand end touchdown. Photo / Ian Cooper

The Napier City Council events manager behind getting Saturday night’s NRL blockbuster to Napier is calling for a legislative big-hit for pitch invasion, after revelations the 12 miscreants caught in the last quarter of the game were let go with nothing more than trespass notices telling them not to come back to the park.

The 12 were booed and condemned as they entered the field in the final quarter of the game, but they were also applauded by parts of the crowd as a ground announcer pleaded for spectators not to encourage them.

Eventually they were nabbed by the more than 40 Red Badge security staff in the arena and could have also been fined up to $5000 under the Major Events Management Act, which was enacted mainly to target offences at more global events such as the Rugby World Cup.

But police media staff said the groups, darting from various points around the ground but none of meeting the requirement of nudity to qualify as a “streaker”, were handed over to police, given warnings, trespassed from McLean Park, and released.

The closest a pitch invader got to being a streaker - falling short of the required dress, or lack of dress, standard. Photo / Ian Cooper

While police had a custody wagon on-site, no charges were laid against the offenders and “nobody was transported from the park by police or detained overnight”, the police media staff said.

Police, thus, could not provide an age range of those involved, nor whether they were from Hawke’s Bay, although according to ticket sales information more than 5000 of the now official attendance of 16,195 were sold outside of the region.

It was a widely-acclaimed triumph to welcome them and it should not have been a night of sour notes, despite the fact that the Broncos - the outsider in the TAB’s books - won 26-22. The Warriors went on a late charge before a penalty denied a possible match-winner in the prime real estate of the Graeme Lowe Stand corner.

Hawke's Bay's own, Tohu Harris (left), moves to wrap up Broncos replacement Martin Taupau. Photo / Ian Cooper

So good was the spectacle that, even without the ground’s own heat of the moment, the temperature in “Napier South”, according to the zillion mobile phones, was 12-14C (2C or more warmer than forecast for that time) about the time the match ended soon after 9pm.

But council events manager Kevin Murphy, who pushed the Warriors and the NRL for five years to get such a match to Napier, was tenuous about a repeat, saying the actions of a few could put such hopes at “serious” risk.

Wellington’s Sky Stadium had similar issues and numbers when the Warriors played there at the start of the season, and Murphy, having contacted its management, said those running the big events were feeling powerless to stop what seemed to be a growing tendency to invade the pitch.

He said if police need more evidence, there was plenty, from a bank of cameras with surveillance from more than 20 points around the ground.

Warriors replacement Tom Ale in the frantic moments of trying to save the game as the clock ticked down. Photo / Ian Cooper

Another who condemned the errant spectator antics was former All Black and Hawke’s Bay Magpies idol Israel Dagg, whose own bottom was a victim when patted by a naked female streaker during a Rugby Championship match against Argentina at McLean Park in 2014.

On a Twitter account he described it as “appalling”, and added: “People encouraging these streakers should be embarrassed!! Don’t applaud them!! Boo them!!”

NRL On Nine commentator and league legend Paul Gallen did not hold back either, saying the behaviour of the McLean Park crowd had been awful.

“I’ve been a big advocate for having as much rugby league in NZ as we can going forward, with big games all around the country, but the way that crowd behaved last night, it’s going to be impossible - the NRL can’t let more games go there.

“It’s just not good enough for a professional organisation like the NRL.”

In the normal scheme of things, the standard security report would have been with the NRL in Australia almost before the victorious Broncos had returned to Brisbane, which was itself a prompt arrangement with the team going direct to Hawke’s Bay Airport to fly out a few hours after the game.

The buzz in the crowd, and feeling the love. Photo / Ian Cooper

The buzz of the exercise continued at the ground well after the final whistle was blown by referee Gerard Sutton, who hadn’t pleased the punters on the embankment with five goal-line calls going against the Warriors in a first half that denied those fans their first close look at any points until the 37th minute, when a try was scored by Warriors wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

One among the throng, which displayed seemingly most of the more than 60 Warriors jerseys merchandised over the last 28 years, reckoned just before the try the ref should go back to Queensland (although he is actually from Coonabarabran, NSW).

The mighty front row - a young Warriors fan propped by the two from the Broncos. Photo / Ian Cooper

About 300 fans, of all ages, crammed into the area around the changing room exits under the grandstand for about two hours after the game, clamouring for autographs and selfies, spending most of the first hour waiting and the second pouncing as each Warriors star made their way down the aisle to the bus. Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson were the most popular.

Once the focus had shifted from the 112-year-old park to various sites of post-match revelry, things were comparatively orderly.

Police said there were a lot of people out and about at bars around the city but there were just two arrests for disorder.

No particular issues were reported in policing the highways, still disrupted by the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, including State Highway 2 to Wairoa, which would have closed at 9pm but which was granted an extra three hours so that people could get home from the game.