Eden Park staff bowled over by task as they tackle ground

One day it's cricket, the next Eden Park hosts a rugby league match. Photo / Getty Images

Ground staff at Eden Park have a frantic few hours in near darkness early this morning to convert the venue from a cricket arena to a rugby league venue.

Turf manager Mark Perham said the changeover was particularly difficult as it had to be done under low lights. Eden Park has restrictions on floodlights because of residents.

The two major sporting fixtures pose a significant logistical undertaking. The one day international cricket fixture was likely to finish about 10pm.

The field would be in rugby league mode less than 14 hours later when the Junior Warriors face Manly in the curtain-raiser due to kick off at 11.45am.

Perham said goal posts would be assembled on the ground, bolted to hinges and hoisted upright.

The largest part of the conversion was lifting out the 36 tonne cricket pitch and replacing it with the same weight of turf, using a 16-tonne machine.

Up to 150 people would be needed to mark the pitch, clean the stadium, change sponsor signs and haul out retractable seating in front of the south stand.

"The worst thing that could happen would be for it to rain," he said.

"It's bad enough visibility under the egress lights. Everything is in heavy shadows already."

The opening round of the NRL was expected to be the highest attended in the history of the competition as Eden Park pulled the largest crowd of 38,000.

The next highest anticipated crowd was 29,000 at Hunter Stadium for the Newcastle versus St George game on Thursday night.