RIP: Wellington Sport

Before I begin this post, I just want to assert that I call Wellington home. I lived there for 18 years before the pilgrimage to Auckland.

I love Wellington, it's still my favourite in New Zealand. Eastbourne, Lyall Bay, the Botanical Gardens, the capital city is full of great places to hang out.

One thing that I am a ltitle embarrassed about, however, is their sports record at the moment.

Cricket, rugby, football, netball, it has been a consistently difficult area for us to excel in. Don't get me wrong, softball and league are two sports we aren't bad at, but the capital's current crisis is nothing to be proud about.

I'll take you through sport by sport to assess just how poorly the counrty's third largest city is faring in various sports:

Rugby: The Hurricanes began this year looking to make the three. But under their new coach Mark Hammett the Hurricanes look disorganised and often look like they're going backwards more than forwards. There is still an alarming lack of discipline which often costs them games, and none can be more obvious than Andrew Hore's sinbinning against the Blues last week. Yes, it's HAmmett's debut season with the Hurricanes, but when you have had no Super Rugby coaching experience what do you call upon? The Canes will be lucky to nab even second position in the New Zealand conference the way the Blues, Crusaders and to an extent the Highlanders are doing. HEre's hoping they prove me wrong. The Wellington Lions have been unlucky to win a final since 2000, and you ahve to wonder what their confidence is like now that Jamie Joseph has finally had enough.

Cricket: Wellington have the best test ground in New Zealand: The Basin Reserve. Despite this, they can't make the most of having it as their home turf and have struggled for years with their cricket. One only needs to see their record form the 2010/2011 season:

Plunket Shield: currently second-last
HRV Cup: second-last
One Day competition: last

The women's team have been carrying this lot for the last couple of years. After topping the Action T20 Cup standings, the defending champion Wellington Blaze side lost to the Canterbury Magicians by six wickets. WEll done girls, now if only you could play for the men's sides.

Netball: It's not a good sign when the headline after a win is "They did it!". Netball in the Wellington region has been arguably the worst performing sport in the capital. The Shakers never did anything for the National Bank Cup, and the Pulse are flatlining in the ANZ Championship. One has to wonder how long this circus will last in what is supposed to be the world's premier netball competition. They say you're only as good as your weakest link - this could well be the time they were wrong.

Football: The Wellington Phoenix arrived with much fanfare to the region courtesy of mogul Terry Serepisos. Understandably he was named Wellingtonian of the year not long afterwards. It's abotu time he gets nominated for a second gong for slipping his way through the legal papers to ensure the company and the team stay afloat. It's such a disappointing distraction for all players involved, and quite frankly it's no surprise Marco Rojas jumped ships when security and quality in Melbourne Victory came calling. The professional nature of the side is incredibly prominent, but it is frsutrating nonetheless. A top six spot could be in the mix for the Phoenix this year, but they'll need to put this financial situation behind them. Hopefully it is resolved sooner rather than later.

It's not all doom and gloom, however. The Wellington Saints won their sixth title with Pero Cameron.

Wellingtonians always get out in droves to support their teams. The Pulse fans have been so loyal Dave Dobbyn would have been inspired to write a second version solely to honour them. But it won't last forever, and the teams need to realise they're going to get up for it, so the fans can be bothered to get up for them.