Well the easy talkback today is what are you going to watch tomorrow night. The Warriors or the All Blacks.

Now first of all to be honest I’ll be watching neither. Tomorrow night I’m hosting a fundraiser for the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court. It’s actually the third time I’ve MC’d one of these. The Courts are also known as Therapeutic Courts. The way they work is that offenders apply to have their case heard by the Drug Court and in essence they’re then sentenced to treatment for their addictions.  The Court monitors their progress. They don’t escape criminal sentencing but that happens once their recovery programme is completed and their real culpability can be assessed.

Two pilot courts have been running since 2012 in Auckland under Judges Ema Aitken and Lisa Tremewen and they’ve had some remarkable success. The government has been watching and is preparing to roll more out across the country. It’s making real the theory that a lot of our crime is a symptom of our mental health and it’s healing people and it’s keeping them out of prison. I’m proud to support it. It’s not just words. It works.

So I’ll be running a fundraising auction and not watching footy.

But the footy is wonderful. I would love to be in Nelson for the All Black game against the Pumas. A test in the regions reminds you about how rugby is not just a game but a thread that ties our communities together. The excitement in Nelson for their first ever test match is at fever pitch.  A big bunch of Argentinians live in the region and they’re fizzing. Volunteers helped add 15,000 seats to Trafalgar park where the game will be held. They even got some local prisoners in to help prepare the ground.

Local business people and the Tasman Makos got $1.2 million together to get the All Blacks there and the sellout crowd and the volunteer effort means they’re not going to lose a cent.  Meanwhile the town is gearing up for the biggest weekend ever and the cash registers will be ringing. It’s such a lovely story about a little city that dreamt big and their dreams came true. It will be magic.

And then there’s the Warriors. Picked to be wooden spooners at the beginning of the year they’re now at the business end of the season having won over a lot of fans in the process.  For the first time in 24 years they’ve had two sell out crowds of 25,500. Mount Smart has got it’s heart back.

And then we learn today that the Warriors have slashed the price of next years season passes. No matter where you sit next year you can get 11 games for 200 bucks.  Less than 20 dollars a game. This is a genius move. I’ve always thought that if you chase a full stadium you’ll make the money rather than jacking up the price of the tickets. And making it so affordable is such a lovely thing to do for the fans.

Two big events on one big night. So who will you be watching?

But what it says to me is that while the games will be decided by well paid big names on the field, the magic of sport is all about the people in the bleachers.