Jason Pine: The legacy of the Apollo Projects Stadium

We now say goodbye to what was only ever supposed to be a temporary venue but has become a fortress for the Crusaders and a graveyard for anyone who tried to go there and win.

Seven championship winning seasons were played there from 2017 to 2023 – another one last season.

A place that came to represent something far greater than a place to watch the Crusaders.

It's only when you go to Christchurch to watch the Crusaders play that you fully realise what this team means to its region.

For a city that's had to endure so much, the Crusaders have been a uniting force. A symbol of togetherness.

And they have provided a distraction from the often challenging lives of those who inhabit that great city.

It feels like the new stadium is the final piece in the rebuild puzzle.

After what they've endured in the 15 years since that dreadful day in February 2011, the opening of a new stadium signifies the completion of a long road back to normality.

Christchurch is now complete once more.

Now of course there's a tendency to look at things like this with a sense of misty-eyed romanticism and overlook the faults of Addington.

It’s a bit hard to get to. Very, very cold. Short on modern-day facilities for the teams, sponsors, media, and the fans.

But the legacy of that so-called temporary stadium will be as significant as what Lancaster Park was, and what Te Kaha will almost certainly become.

In the midst of difficulty and destruction and despair, Addington brought people together.

It provided pockets of joy to a city that badly needed them and came to represent much, much more than just a place to watch a game of rugby.

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