Yes, it is a premature statement particularly considering the pitiful state of the infamous stand last year, but it’s a prophecy I will cling to dearly. After all, it’s not much fun predicting something that’s already happened, is it?
For me, that first game really sets the tone for how things will play out in the stand this season. There were around 1000 people in attendance on February 24, a considerable number, but not particularly surprising seeing as it was the first game of the season.
No-one was on their feet constantly, yet all seemed to be deeply invested in the outcome of the game. It felt like the rumble of a hungry stomach, the great silence before a beast eats its prey. Was I the only one with chills?
But it just doesn’t make sense. The Highlanders are a wounded animal having lost all of their seniority and clinging to their last All Black, Ethan De Groot, with a quiet desperation. Why would the Zoo erupt now?
I believe it’s because the Highlanders have something no other team in the competition does, that being, a set of students/young guns all ready to play their hearts out for the crowd.
In studentville, there’s only really two degrees of separation between anyone, and the same applies for the new influx of Highlanders. They may not be typical students but the four-five blokes who are, undoubtedly have connections within the student body.
I am still looking forward to the day I rock up to a flat party and am greeted by the burly figure of Ethan De Groot, though I doubt it will happen during my time here.
Nonetheless, there is a certain beauty in looking on to the field and seeing someone your age, out there doing it.
In a sense, it really is "our team" not only in name but also in practice. The Highlanders are students and in turn we are the Highlanders. It is that kind of twisted logic which makes me feel like my rugby dreams aren’t dead.
Another facet of change in the Highlander’s camp is how the brand is marketed to students.
It is no secret that the Zoo last year was abysmal. On a good day there would be hardly 500 people in attendance, all sitting docile and barely capable of mustering a cheer when the Highlanders scored.
Of course, there were a few diehard locals at the front, but everyone behind them silently wore their Chiefs jerseys underneath a smattering of blue and gold.
I remember one particularly slow game, people around us in the Zoo took to throwing packaged cheese at one another. It was a low moment for the Zoo, particularly considering the fact that the cheese was garbage.
Realising the Zoo needed a major revamp, the team at the Highlanders got to work. Tickets have been reduced to $15 with a valid student ID, almost $10 cheaper than last year. In addition to this, the Highlanders have set about restoring a partnership with the Otago University Student Association (OUSA) and establishing "The Zoo Uncaged" a social media platform run purely in efforts to get the student body as psyched for games as possible.
The team at the Highlanders are calling out to the student body. They are prepared to have a bit of a laugh at their own expense. They cry out, "we’re here for you, now are you here for us?"
The last Zoo restoring feature to mention is the unquantifiable "feel it in my bones" type of sensation which makes people bet $10,000 on the horses. A rising tide lifts all boats, and this is certainly the case when it comes to defining the relationship between the Highlanders, the Zoo, and wider student culture.
There is a link. Who can deny that each was not at its peak during the 2015 Super Rugby season?
Both student culture and the Highlanders are recovering from a Covid era which saw both teams fundamentally change their approach to finding success.
Both are rebuilding, the Zoo may be key to the success of both? If it is, I can’t wait to be there and see it happening.
- Hugh Askerud is a 20-year-old local resident and student at the University of Otago, majoring in politics and religious studies.
