Auckland Thoroughbred Racing CEO Paul Wilcox speaks about Auckland hosting four big sporting events: league, horse racing, rugby and football. Video / Ryan Bridge TODAY
Auckland’s “Footy, Fillies and Fans” event featured the Warriors, Blues, and Auckland FC games.
The Warriors and Auckland FC tied for top honours, each scoring 31/40 in the Herald’s review.
Transport was highlighted as an area for improvement for future events.
With Auckland’s three biggest sports franchises teaming up with Champions Day at Ellerslie, the Herald’s Man in the Stand Samuel Sherry went to each event over the weekend to get the low down on the big issues: who served the best pie? And who put on the bestshow?
The Warriors, Blues and Auckland FC all played home games over the first full weekend of March and combined to create the “Footy, Fillies and Fans” collaborative event.
Friday evening kicked off the event with the Warriors playing the Sydney Roosters in their first game of the NRL season.
Two events were on the Saturday: Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse and the Blues-Crusaders game at Eden Park.
The weekend finished on Sunday afternoon as Auckland FC played Perth Glory in the A-League.
To fully understand “Footy, Fillies and Fans”, I took it upon myself to attend and review all of them as a fan and created a system to rate each one.
Auckland's "Footy, Fillies and Fans" weekend included two games at GoMedia Stadium, the Blues playing the Crusaders and Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse.
For the four events, there are four categories: food and drink, transport, atmosphere and the game (or the races) themselves.
Each category will be rated out of 10, meaning each event will finish with an overall score out of 40.
I tried to score these events without comparison to the others as much as I could, but because each one happened in such quick succession, it was hard to stop this over certain things.
So, to begin the weekend I headed to GoMedia Stadium, as Mt Smart is known for sponsorship reasons, on a cool Friday evening to watch the Warriors begin their 2026 NRL campaign.
New Zealand Warriors v Sydney Roosters
The Warriors came through with an impressive first round win over the Roosters. Photo / Photosport
Food and drink
An 8pm kickoff time meant dinner would have to be eaten at the stadium, which was a perfect way to begin this review.
I arrived at the stadium about an hour before the match and despite it being so early, there was plenty of food and drink ready to go with little waiting time, which was a big bonus.
I decided to buy a chicken and chips ($14.50), because it looked to be the largest item on the menu, plus a can of beer ($10.50), which came to a total of $25.
For stadium food, I felt that was quite good value and the beer was one of their cheaper options and went down quite well.
Chicken and chips plus a beer at the Warriors v Roosters game came to $25 at GoMedia Stadium.
Going back to buy a drink or a snack throughout the game was easy enough and there wasn’t too much waiting around, so that was another positive for this category.
The chicken and chips were nice and well-presented – and they did enough to keep me full for most of the game – but I don’t feel as though I can expect a multi-course meal at something like this.
This was a positive start to the match-day experience, but I wouldn’t say it blew me away.
Score: 7/10
Transport
I took an Uber to the game out of convenience, but one came quickly and there was limited traffic on the way there. I say limited in the sense that it wasn’t bumper-to-bumper on the Southern Motorway, but there was still the usual Friday evening congestion.
Leaving the game, I decided to take public transport and having been to GoMedia Stadium before, I knew to not try to take a bus from outside the stadium.
The last time I tried to do that, one never arrived, or at least I didn’t wait around for it to show up.
I did encounter some issues here, though, which are the same issues I feel most people taking public transport to and from these sorts events face: it’s all very slow.
I walked to the Penrose train station to catch a train, which took about 25 minutes to show up after I had arrived at the station, and it didn’t appear that any extra services, heading to or from the city centre, had been put on.
Although I wasn’t completely frustrated by the transport situation, I felt there is still room for improvement overall.
Score: 7/10
Atmosphere
The atmosphere was what really made this evening stand out for me.
The fans are incredible and you felt every home supporter in that stadium was heavily invested in the outcome of that game.
It didn’t feel aggressive, but it did feel intense, which added to the overall positive feeling of the team during the game.
The entertainment throughout was well done also, including light shows before the game and at halftime, plus a surprise appearance from rapper Savage, something correctly predicted by fellow reporter Ben Francis.
Unless the Warriors were blown out, I felt the atmosphere would have still made this a great place to be on a Friday evening – the night was made even better as they came through with a huge victory.
Score: 9/10
Warriors fans brought an impressive and intense atmosphere as their team beat the Roosters 42-18.
Huge win for the Warriors, but it felt as though the score could have been closer than what it finished up as.
The Warriors did ride their luck for the 42-18 victory, but had a healthy lead for most of the match.
The Roosters looked as though they would threaten more than they did and there appeared to be some early season issues that are likely to be sorted out within the next few weeks.
If this match was in a couple of weeks’ time, it might have seen a much closer score, but what I witnessed was a dominant display and plenty of points – something that doesn’t always happen.
Score: 8/10
Journalist Samuel Sherry at Mt Smart as the Warriors started the "Footy, Fillies and Fans" weekend off on the right foot.
Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse was the event where I was to spend the most time, meaning it was important to understand where the food and drink was available.
I was in the general admission area, which meant there was one main bar and one main section for food.
Well Written (inside) and Matt Cartwright just held out Belle Cheval to win the NZB Kiwi. Photo / Kenton Wright
A bottle of beer cost about $10 and a small bottle of sparkling wine (only bought after actually winning a bet) was about $15, although there were much more expensive options.
The wait time for drinks did take a while if I didn’t time my run right, but the staff worked as quickly as they could, while the food was more self-service than anything.
I decided to pick up a mince-and-cheese pie for $7, which I felt was great value and kept me full for my time there.
A well-made pie and a well-priced beer helped this spectator make it through Champions Day.
Transport
I took the bus to the racecourse, which worked quite well as the No 70 comes through quite frequently.
However, I did have to rely on my phone for a map to walk to the event from where I was dropped off, which was fine, but I was told by fellow reporter Lochlan Lineham that the directions were well sign-posted from the Greenlane train station.
I had to take an Uber from the racecourse to Eden Park as the Blues were playing almost immediately after Champions Day finished and public transport would have take me nearly an hour to head over there.
This was certainly the best option as the car arrived quickly, but there were some mix-ups with other spectators, who were also looking to jump in a cab as soon as possible.
A very different atmosphere to the Warriors game, most people seemed to be there for a good time rather than being focused on the races, plus the excellent weather helped to elevate everyone’s spirits further.
This was pleasant overall and the discovery of the “Prix de Fashion” was also fun, seeing how excited all those in the smaller venue near the entrance were to see the different dresses and jumpsuits on display.
I think to describe it in one sentence would be to say it was a fun day out, plus being able to pet a couple of horses was an added bonus.
Being up close enough to pet a few horses was an added bonus on Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse.
The game/the races
The races came through thick and fast and I had to be careful not to miss any of them.
There was plenty of drama throughout the day, including a favourite crashing in to the fence on the home stretch and a photo finish in the pinnacle race, the NZB Kiwi.
Unfortunately for the Blues, Warriors and Auckland FC, the horse they backed in the Kiwi Cup, La Dorada, did not come through with a win, but the organisers of the event certainly put on a show.
Score: 8/10
Good weather and good racing made for a fun day at Ellerslie Racecourse.
As I said above, I have tried to look at all these events in isolation, but the food at Eden Park did throw me slightly.
Blues winger Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick against the Crusaders. Photo / Photosport
That was mainly down to the price of a chicken burger and chips, which came to $22, certainly the most expensive food of the weekend and not worth the price.
The stadium did have more premium beers, which were priced at about the same as the other venues, so that was a bonus, as were the limited wait times.
A $22 chicken burger and chips was the most expensive meal of the weekend.
It was hard to separate the drive from Ellerslie to Eden Park in to these categories, but there was some traffic heading to the stadium, meaning I made it almost bang on kickoff.
The bonus of taking a car over was the time between venues was much lower than what it would have been if I had taken public transport – about 15 minutes versus an hour.
I did take a bus towards Central Auckland after the match, though, and that was a more frustrating time because most people doing the same thing wait at the same spot in Kingsland, plus the buses are fairly infrequent, making for a tightly packed journey.
Score: 6/10
Atmosphere
Eden Park is too big for the Blues and that seriously affects the overall atmosphere.
They do a good job of trying to keep the fans engaged with pyrotechnics, music and a host asking the crowd to make noise throughout the game, which the fans do, but there feels like a real emptiness to the stadium overall.
I did feel like people were interested in the game and you could hear the roar of the crowd when the Blues were on attack, but the atmosphere might be enhanced if the match was played at a smaller venue.
Score: 7/10
Eden Park is a great setting for rugby, but it felt too big at times for the Blues crowd.
The Blues never particularly looked like they were in any serious trouble and it was fun to see some of the best players in the world go head to head, even if they didn’t make the biggest mark overall.
Score: 8/10
The Blues put in a strong performance to beat the Crusaders at Eden Park.
Blues v Crusaders total: 27/40
Auckland FC v Perth Glory
Food and drink
This was probably the strongest showing in this category across the weekend.
Back at GoMedia stadium, the beers were the same as before, but I decided to try one of their more premium beers (Heineken) for 50 cents more.
Sam Cosgrove put Auckland FC ahead against Perth Glory early with an impressive finish. Photo / Photosport
However, the deal of the weekend was found in a $13 pork roll, which included a BBQ pork riblet, pickled slaw and onion rings – delicious.
The bargain of the weekend came in the shape of a pork roll sold at the Auckland FC match at GoMedia stadium.
The pork roll at the Auckland FC game came with a BBQ pork riblet, pickled slaw and onion rings.
Score: 9/10
Transport
The transport situation here was almost exactly the same as it was for the Warriors game, but I did take public transport both ways this time.
It took me over an hour from leaving my house to arrive at the stadium, with a similar time on the journey home.
The trains are never usually as packed as the buses, but the travel time isn’t going to encourage many to ditch their cars and take public transport to these events.
Auckland FC have a fan base that is passionate about the team, but it is also a fan base that is quite young – and the match caters for that.
It’s mainly a family-based atmosphere overall, which means it isn’t as intense as Friday night was with the Warriors, but you can still find some intensity by sitting in The Port with the more hardcore fans.
This was more of an event that can cater for basically anyone who follows football, however they follow football.
Auckland FC kept their unbeaten streak alive with a high-scoring draw against Perth Glory.
Auckland FC v Perth Glory total: 31/40
Final thoughts
The Warriors and Auckland FC drew for top honours, with each bagging 31/40 for their event. Champions Day at Ellerslie was third, with 30/40, while the Blues (home of the expensive chicken burger) came in with 27/40.
This was quite an ambitious endeavour to put on and attend all these events on the same weekend, but I felt all worked as well as they could have.
These were all special events in their own right and even attending just one of them would have made for a great day or evening.
If this was something that was done again, I feel transport is something the city would need to work on – it might even be worth trying to hold all the games (other than the horse racing) in the same stadium.
This was a weekend that showed Auckland can put on a top-notch sporting show, no matter what code you are a fan of.
