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Speaker 1: Well, given how much of a teas we've had about

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Speaker 1: the Eden Park news today, it's completely understandable if the

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Speaker 1: excitement levels aren't where they should be. But let's be clear,

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Speaker 1: this is really big news on two fronts. The first one,

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Speaker 1: obviously is the State of Origin game. I mean, this

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Speaker 1: is the first time since nineteen ninety seven that Ossie's

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Speaker 1: led a State of o game out of the country.

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Speaker 1: It's the first time ever that it's coming to New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: We are a very big rugby league nation and that game,

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Speaker 1: even if it kicks off at some ridiculous time like

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Speaker 1: nine thirty or ten in the evening, will sell out

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Speaker 1: pretty quickly, which means I don't know how much international

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Speaker 1: money it's actually going to bring in, because surely we're

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Speaker 1: going to snap up the tickets ourselves before any Ossies

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Speaker 1: can get it. But it'll be an event, and if

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Speaker 1: that gets New Zealand a step closer to being considered

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Speaker 1: as a serious place for a second team in the

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Speaker 1: comp that can't be a bad thing, can it. The

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Speaker 1: second announcement, though, I think, is the one that's actually bigger,

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Speaker 1: and we get very fuzzy about the State of Origin,

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Speaker 1: but I think the rules around eden Park are bigger

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Speaker 1: because it's bigger than one single event. It's longer term.

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Speaker 1: It was always stupid that eden Park couldn't host a

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Speaker 1: sporting event on a Sunday, and that's sports event on

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Speaker 1: a weekday had to be wrapped up by nine point thirty,

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Speaker 1: which would have absolutely put a big no on the

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Speaker 1: State of Origin game, which is played on a Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: It was stupid that eden Park could only ever have

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Speaker 1: twelve concerts a year, and that you were only ever

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Speaker 1: allowed to have six artists doing those twelve concerts, and

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Speaker 1: that any one month could only have four concerts and

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Speaker 1: no more than that. It's now twelve big concerts, twenty

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Speaker 1: medium sized concerts. Any day is okay up to eight hours.

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Speaker 1: Don't always need to keep consent to say yes. I

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Speaker 1: understand that there are residents to be considered, and I

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Speaker 1: am extremely grateful to so many of them that they

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Speaker 1: are so generous. But this was necessary if we don't

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Speaker 1: want eden Park to be empty most days of the week,

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Speaker 1: just waiting for a ratepayer bailout like the days of old.

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Speaker 1: If we wanted to actually earn its way, then this

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Speaker 1: is the way to do it. And this has not

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Speaker 1: come a day too soon. For more from Heather Duclassie

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Speaker 1: Allen Drive, Listen live to news talks It'd be from

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Speaker 1: four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio