The Blues’ new Chief Executive Karl Budge has already marked his tenure with some bold statements. His brazen desire to hijack the wildly successful Super Round from Christchurch is an audacious move for the administrator who has an enviable record of success across the sports he has been involved in, notably tennis’ ASB Classic.  

Like the target on the back of the Super Round, arguably a revery based dart, his pronouncement that the Blues home base Eden Park should be the teams’ superpower is as fanciful as the Super raid.   

It’s unlikely that the Blues could regularly stuff the park to near capacity, such is the palpable lack of success the team has experienced, and the yawning emptiness that the stadium presents when a meagre crowd is in attendance.   

However, even though Karl’s pipe dream appears to be based on ambition cloaked in hope, the mere fact that he has approached this matter with such unabashed positivity, speaks volumes for his ‘why not?’ philosophy in sport management.   

Along with the Hurricanes owner’s calls for mass change in the Super Rugby ownership arena, the broom that has gone through NZR and the fresh approach in Super Rugby navigation, I dare say the want for an acceleration in Blues attendance-based passion isn’t as sky-based pie as we would think.  

Karl also has a key ally in the limitless enthusiasm and drive of Eden Park CEO Nick Sauntner. 

If the Blues are to rise again and bring the ever-expanding Auckland populace along for the ride, these to blokes are the men to do it.