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Malcolm Gillies: Hurricanes Chairman on Hnry Stadium selling out for the All Blacks v Italy clash · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Right, Wellington's Caton officially sold out ahead of today's All
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Blacks test against Italy, which is great news. Third time
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the cake Tin, if we can call it that, Henry
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Stadium has been sold out in Wellington for twenty twenty six.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Malcolm Gillies, Hurricanes co owner and chairman. I'll fill the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: tin campaign creator is with us this morning. Good morning, Malcolm, Yeah,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: good morning. Okay, great news.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah it is, isn't it. Yeah, we've got a great
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: marketing team. We can't take credit for that. Filled the
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: term to the brim. That was their marketing guys. And yeah,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: it was a great, great marketing campaign. Yeah.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Is there something wrong with calling it the Caketon. I've
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: had lots of texts this morning. I thought that's what
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: we called it, Malcolm.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I didn't call it what you like. I mean, it's
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: you know, the sponsor, Henry Stadium. I mean Henry, the
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: guy that owns Henry. He said, great guy, you're very
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: very positive about changes. You know that he wants to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: bring to help bring people back to the cake Tin.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: But no, I think that the name's been there.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Has been Rugby's cranking and Wellington at the moment. But
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I did look back. There was an injury you did
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: last year. You talked about the Hurricanes and the loss
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of financial losses. Has the win for the for this
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: season is that helped to turn things around for them?
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Well, most certainly, but even before that things were financially
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: were on the right track. We turned it right round
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: this year, I think will be we would have turned
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: it around to a profit. So you know, we've been
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We've been very blessed with the support that we've managed
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: to get back from our from our fans. But I
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: think main needs and probably could contribute to why the
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: All Blacks have filled the cake tin as well as
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the Hurricanes were playing a fantastic brand of rugby, really entertaining,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: and I think you know that that final would have
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: to be the best final, best game of rugby, I
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: think most people have ever seen. It was just fantastic
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: and you've got what you've got Heaven and the All Blacks.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: So hopefully, you know, we're going to start seeing some
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: more of that entertaining rugby and that's what people come
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: to look for.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: It is, isn't it. I Mean people love to back winners,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and clearly there are a lot of winners in Wellington.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Right now, what about club rugby. I've been reading with
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: some concern this week about the you know, despite the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: fact we'll have the ABS in Italy playing at the
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Cake Tin, we've got no club rugby because of apparently
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: there's abuse going on with the rest.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, look, we can't tolerate it. It's just
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: there's no place in sport for that type of behavior.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: So I say, good on the rest, you know, put
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: your foot down. I mean, they don't get paid and
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: they don't have to put up with that sort of nonsense.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: And maybe you know, I mean it's pretty radical when
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I heard of Kriky Dick. You know, that's really that's
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: a good you know, that's pretty out there. But look,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: you know it's not tolerant. We can't tolerate that sort
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: of behavior. Malcolm.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: I'm from Wellington and Wellington hasn't been fantastic when it
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: comes to super rugby for a wee or we haven't
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: won for a wee while. What's turned it around? Like,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: how where is this, as you described a fantastic style
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: of rugby come from.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Well, you've got to really, I mean, obviously it wasn't
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: just myself and our board in one year. You can't
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: you know, we can't say it was just us. I
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: think we added to it. But I think if you
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: looked at it, it had been building for quite some time.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: I think the Hurricanes had recruited well over the last
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: number of years. They've got a fantastic coaching unit with
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Clark and Corey, Jane and Whopper. It has been building.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: It was just quietly there and I think what we
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: did probably was give it the ability to come out. So,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: you know, it's it's been an exciting time and I
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: think next year, I mean, the proof in the putting
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: is can we turn it around? Can we go back
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: to back? And that's what's going to be exciting, because
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: if we can, you know, then then obviously we have
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: got something there. But we've got a wonderful culture there.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: It feels good. You only got to look at our girls.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, our girls hadn't won a game two years.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: They've won two games in a row. And when you
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: watch them play, you know they're in with a hunt,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: they're in with a chance to win that comp they're
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: playing some great rugby and they're having fun. So you know,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: wouldn't that be excited? Men and women? The good Win both.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Good to have goals there. Malcolm Gillies, Hurricanes co owner,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: with us this morning.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays,
• 4:27
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