Outgoing NRL CEO Andrew Abdo was on hand to herald the first rugby league game at the venue, which was recently unveiled in time for the Super Rugby finals. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s fair to say OneNZ Stadium looks an absolute treat with a permanent roof letting in plenty of light as Kiwi fans packed in to modern grandstands, making themselves heard through the broadcast.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the spirit in this venue was big at the start of the game, it\u2019s gone up several levels,\u201d sideline reporter Niko Pajarillo said as the Warriors scored another try. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt truly is a wall of sound. Add the acoustics of an indoor ground with a sold out crowd and the rowdiness of one of the most loyal fan bases in the NRL, it\u2019s the perfect cocktail for an incredible atmosphere here in Christchurch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commentator Matt Russell said: \u201cWarriors fans waving, smiling. It\u2019s been quite the atmosphere from before kick off as footy fans flock from the city centre of Christchurch into this sparkling, One New Zealand stadium. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an addition to the city it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new stadium puts New Zealand\u2019s south island in the box seat to be awarded the NRL\u2019s 20th team, with a fifth Queensland team looking less likely, according to reports this week.<\/p>\n
Kayo Sports commentator Dan Ginnane said: \u201cThat scene in Christchurch was astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Ennis said: \u201cAt a time when the game is looking at expansion, gee didn\u2019t Christchurch look good today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe star of the show was the new stadium in Christchurch,\u201d Matty Johns said on his Sunday Night show on Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unbelievable, insane. The Warriors lived up to it, they were fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother team in New Zealand would be ideal, especially with the growth of the game there,\u201d NRL boss Peter V\u2019landys said recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Warriors have done such a great job over there that we wouldn\u2019t want to cannibalise them, so the team would have to be down south.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got a new stadium in Christchurch, so we\u2019ll be going there and having a look at that in the next month or so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing so well in New Zealand at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sparkly new stadium in Christchurch opened in April, weeks ahead of schedule and under budget at $A536 million, a fact pointed out by Tasmanian devils CEO Brendon Gale on social media. <\/p>\n
Construction for a $1.1 billion stadium with a roof at Hobart\u2019s Macquarie Point was finally approved last year, but it\u2019s not expected to host AFL games until 2031. The Tasmanian devils enter the AFL in 2028.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile this week the Queensland government announced a major upgrade to Brisbane\u2019s Suncorp Stadium will only see around 1000 seats added to the venue. <\/p>\n
Queensland premier David Crisafulli admitted the increase in capacity was modest but lauded a halo video screen and sky-high terrace beer garden to be introduced ahead of the Brisbane Olympics. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Australia\u2019s state governments haggle over new stadiums, New Zealand just put us to shame. On Sunday, OneNZ…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,277557,158,85],"class_list":["post-751090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-ncaeditorialkayoprogram","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}