Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive Duncan Simpson has become a loyal Otago rugby supporter in his nearly 10 years in the city.
As he prepares to leave to move to a new sports-related job in Auckland - albeit it golf - it felt the right moment to ask the former Otago Rugby Union board member why the provincial team cannot win many games.
Mr Simpson recalled that in 1998, when he was preparing to come to the city, the rugby team was the top in the country and the cricket team lost every game.
Now, it was almost the other way around.
"The only thing about supporting Otago rugby now is that it is better than supporting football."
However, on a more serious note, Mr Simpson noted that rugby had changed greatly in the professional era.
He believed the "ideal team" for Otago would be players on the fringe of All Black selection but not quite good enough for the call-up.
They needed to be young enough not to be tempted by overseas offers.
In recent times there had never been enough "stars" to attract the crowds or other top players.
"When we lost Jeff Wilson we lost 5000 people out of the crowd. You have to have stars."
The laws also needed a change.
Rugby had become predictable as a game and a new stadium would help bring people back to the game.
Many people did not go to Carisbrook in the winter because it was freezing cold, he said.
The whole game was under strain of rising costs and Otago had suffered by losing players to other unions, Super 14 sides or the All Blacks.
Not long ago, when the Hurricanes played the Highlanders in Wellington, there was a crowd of around 20,000.
Now it would be a good night to get 14,000 to a match.
In a final magnanimous gesture, Mr Simpson has offered to be the "mascot" for the Otago team as it challenges Wellington for the Ranfurly shield in Wellington on July 31.
After all, he points out, he was at the match when Otago successfully lifted the shield from Wellington in 1957 - the last year it actually held the prized Log of Wood.
What have we got to lose?
