Has the NRL, upon its return to the Queen City, overtaken union as the fan-favourite winter sport?

I’d have to say yes. 

There are multitudes of reasons for the acceleration in love for the 13-man code. Some pro league, some anti rugby.  Reasons around venues, competition quality, player availability, paucity, and dare I say, out and out passion.  

On the face of it, Warriors home games just look busier. A smaller ground, decently proportioned, easily filled, with a ferocious fanbase. Mt Smart is definitely looking a bit tired, but what it lacks in polish, it makes up for with crowd engagement. They are right there, cheek to jowl, within eyeballing distance of the action.

You can hear the bone crunching tackles, and they can hear your cries of ecstasy or misery, your words of encouragement or rage. Eden Park with a full house is something to behold, but in Super Rugby, short of a final, it just doesn’t elicit the same vitality as Mt Smart. 

The Warriors of course have an advantage in that for years they were Robinson Crusoe'ing it on the West Island. Then when they returned home, either A) they took some of their home games away from Auckland or B) the NRL did it for them, hello magic round. So of course, the fans would flock to the ground given half a chance. 

The Warriors are also playing in a dynamic competition that plays no favourites, whereas Super rugby, outside of the local derbies, isn’t that hard to pick. 

Add to that the team are playing good football and the NRL also serves up the best talent in the game, no resting the crowd-pleasing rock stars here. 

It’s a tough package to challenge, it will be interesting to see if the upcoming quarter final action in Super Rugby can show that Auckland is more than just a league town.  

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