Commonwealth Games: Currie, NZ team ready to go home

Normally so unflappable when it comes to all things Games, New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie is ready to go home.

A respected and popular figurehead at Olympic and Commonwealth Games for the last decade, Currie's boundless energy is usually a feature of any campaign.

But not at New Delhi.

"We've got another two or three days of competition to go but I think all of us, really, are ready to go home," Currie told NZPA.

"It's been a long haul. We've enjoyed it but it's tough and people are thinking about the big bird."

It's no surprise Currie has the wobbles with the finish line in sight.

He arrived here more than three weeks before the Games began on October 3, the latest of numerous trips to India in the past year. And all the Games planning has run parallel with his travel-heavy role as manager of the New Zealand cricket team.

These Games have tested his diplomatic skills, logistical nous and -- most of all -- his patience like nothing he's experienced in sports administration.

For a few days in late September, Currie was in the global spotlight, railing against appalling conditions at the athletes' village. He put organisers under the blowtorch to clean it up quickly or risk the Games being canned.

Some observers in New Delhi believe it was Currie's "seconds to midnight" cries that alerted other leading nations to the problem. Only then did the complex wheels of progress here start to crank.

Concerns about the village continued days into the Games and putting out fires of variable sizes has become part of Currie's daily routine -- all under the shadow of a suffocating blanket of security.

"Everything is difficult really. Some of the overlay around security has made it more difficult. You're checked, checked again and then you go through another," Currie said.

"But I guess we can't have it both ways. You do feel safe and secure.

"Just organisationally it's a tad frustrating. This is by far the most difficult Games that I've had to go through."

Currie first held his post at the 2000 Paralympics and never fails to be impressed by the efforts of Games volunteers. The smiles and endless willingness to promote their city and country is compelling.

It is no different in New Delhi but Currie can't help but feel the people here have been let down by administrators, who dropped the ball after being awarded hosting rights six years ago.

"There are a lot of people here who have worked extraordinarily hard and I want to give some real credit to them for that," he said.

"If they'd left it to the young people of India to organise it -- and if some of the leadership wasn't there -- I think they'd have nailed it even better really."

A weary Currie still shapes as the ideal man to manage the cricket team on their six-week tour of India starting next month.

He is still in discussions about the itinerary -- which features numerous random flights criss-crossing the country in typical Indian style.

The cricketers leave for India just two weeks after Currie gets home, leaving little time to put the legs up at home in Raglan.

However, anyone concerned about his fatigue levels must have missed the sight of Currie launching into a trademark haka at the women's hockey semifinal yesterday.

Committed to being chef de mission at the 2012 London Olympics -- probably his last Games -- he can reflect on a big job well done in New Delhi.

Health problems within his team have been limited to no more than "a couple of 24-hour bugs", something Currie credits to careful planning and a disciplined approach from athletes.

Currie is most buoyant when discussing the camaraderie among the New Zealanders here, borne of the security fears which demand they remain locked inside the Games "bubble".

"There's been an amazing buzz. Of all the Games I've been involved with, there's probably a greater sense of being together as a team," he said.

"It is that sense of adversity. If there's a key New Zealand event on, there's about 70 or 80 people crammed into the team lounge. That's fantastic."