It’s been 21 long years since the Wallabies last won a match on New Zealand soil. That match was at Carisbrook back in 2001 and a ball hasn’t been kicked in anger there for a decade. The stadium formerly known as the “House Of Pain” is now a mixture of buildings, construction site and wasteland.

‍

Says Jodi Williams, chief marketing and customer experience officer, TAB NZ: “Fresh off the back of a successful Consider The Odds campaign during the Ireland tour of New Zealand, we wanted to play on that historical angle that served us well when poking fun at Ireland’s record in New Zealand prior to this tour.”

‍

TAB NZ approached independent creative agency Yarn to generate talkability around the Bledisloe Cup and to continue to help the TAB NZ brand to show up differently in the public.

‍

Says Rich Robson and Matt Sellars, creative directors at Yarn: “Knowing that the site of the Wallabies’ last win here is being slowly bulldozed away and almost removed from existence, we knew this was the perfect spot to tell an entertaining story.”

‍

The story is centred around Wallabies fan Garry, portrayed by top Australian comedian Luke Heggie, who is back outside the stadium formerly known as Carisbrook as part of a pilgrimage he has made every year since 2001.

‍

One of the remnants of Carisbrook – the brick turnstile entrance – makes an appearance, as does a Wallabies great who played in the infamous 2001 match, Matt Burke, who beams in on a video call to reminisce about that historic day.

‍

Says Heath Davy, managing partner, Yarn: “We’re excited to be collaborating with the TAB NZ team. We have a growing team here at Yarn who love getting stuck into exciting briefs like this and doing everything we can to make things happen. Like sliding into Matty Burke’s DMs!”

‍