Wynne Gray: No regrets but thanks for the memories, Carisbrook

Sunset at Carisbrook. Photo / Getty Images

Describing Carisbrook as a great rugby ground is like saying the All Whites created the greatest moment in recent New Zealand sports history.

But the quaint old arena in south Dunedin has been the centrepiece for southern sport for the past 127 years and for many southern sporting devotees, carries all their treasured memories.

Men like broadcaster Iain Gallaway, who first saw a game there in 1930 and later combined his busy legal and sporting careers with a love for radio commentary from the 'Brook.

Another great broadcasting character was Peter Sellers, a bloke of unquenchable thirst, robust language and stories about a multitude of sports he had seen down the years.

Paul Allison has been doing duty behind the microphone for the last decade and a half, when his running interests allow, while Peter Montgomery likes to get home to prowl the sidelines when an All Black test is on.

Men like Brent Edwards, Ali McMurran, Hayden Meikle and Steve Hepburn, in my time at the 'Brook, have delivered millions of words for summer and winter sport from the ground for the Otago Daily Times.

There were summer days when we would be ushered under the old Rose Stand for the delightful ritual of freshly made scones at afternoon tea during the cricket.

Sometimes games never started, such as when I was assigned to cover the test cricket between New Zealand and Pakistan in February 1989. After three days the test was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

There could be icy blasts from protagonists, coach Laurie Mains or chief executive John Hornibrook about some perceived indiscretion from the northern media.

Authorities rebuilt the main stand at Carisbrook some years ago but forgot to extend the media facilities. Mind you, that press box was taken over by the All Black staff during tests. We sat outside, as we do now, to soak up the atmosphere.

Two years ago, Carisbrook was supposed to have its last rites as an international rugby stadium. Somehow that date was shifted and we saw France beat the All Blacks there last season.

But tonight is the burial. The end of an era.

Next year the shift to the new roofed stadium near the University Plaza precinct is planned for the World Cup.

Many locals remain concerned about that ground's ability to generate consistent revenue, and the reliability of the turf.

If my travels take me there next season, there will be no nostalgia about leaving Carisbrook. Now if Eden Park had been shifted ... oh, don't get me started.