The biggest McLean Park NPC rugby crowd in three years is a possibility as the Magpies play Otago on Friday night, going for a Hawke’s Bay NPC record sixth consecutive win.
Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union commercial manager Dan Somerville says the union has already had two home crowds of over 6000 this season.
Ticket sales by midweek, with the prospect of fine weather, pointed to the first NPC crowd in Napier over 7000 since 7402 watched the Magpies lose the Ranfurly Shield on September 7, 2024.
“Let’s get it to 8000,” Somerville said, revealing the last time an NPC crowd exceeded that, other than the largely free-admission 10,246 of the Cyclone Gabrielle-relief Battle of the Bays game against Bay of Plenty in 2023, was 8288, for another Ranfurly Shield demise against Wellington in 2022.
MetService is forecasting a fine day on which the temperature could be 14-15C during the match, which starts at 7.10pm.
The Magpies again start as TAB favourites, and, despite having never won the major title, have been for almost a fortnight the outright favourites to win the competition.
The TAB said the team are attracting more bets than any other team in the competition, although there is more money on Canterbury and Tasman. The Magpies were paying $3.00 to win the NPC late on Wednesday afternoon, but one early bet of $200 on them at $8 odds has a possible return of $1600.
With a largely settled match-day 23 through the first five games, head coach Brock James has restored lock Hunter Morrison, one of three joint leaders of the NPC’s Duane Monkley Medal race, to the starting XV and also brought back first five-eighths Harry Godfrey, one of another group just two points behind.
Morrison was a substitute against Southland and scored his fifth try of his breakout season, while Godfrey had a break and, with 55 points, is second on the points-scoring table.
Into the 23 for the first time this season are hooker Jacob Devery, injured in Magpies training after playing for the Hurricanes in their Super Rugby Pacific triumph, and prop Josh Smith.
The Magpies have won seven of the last 10 matches against Otago.
Team
Clément Castets, Kianu Kereru-Symes, Joe Apikotoa; Tom Allen, Hunter Morrison; Frank Lochore (captain), Cooper Flanders; Tiaki Fabish; Folau Fakatava, Harry Godfrey; Darby Lancaster, Lukas Ripley, Bailyn Sullivan, Nic Benn, Zarn Sullivan. Reserves: Jacob Devery, Hadlee Hay-Horton, Josh Smith, Geoff Cridge, Sam Smith; Kade Manuel, Will Cole, Neria Fomai.
Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter, based in Napier, with a journalism career of 53 years, including over four decades covering news and sports events and issues in Hawke’s Bay.