Shifting the Goalposts at the Westpac Stadium The rise of the Phoenix in Wellington has seen new challenges for grounds staff at Westpac Stadium this season, with the need for frequent changes of rugby and soccer goal posts. It used to be a labour intensive and time consuming job until Mexteds came up with the new “Hurri Shifter”.
Brett Sipthorpe, Turf Manager of the Westpac Stadium says when the Wellington Phoenix came on board goal posts had to be swapped every week, whereas previously it had been every two to three months. For each changeover, Stadium staff had to build a plywood road, bring in a 15 tonne crane, remove the goal posts and then decompact the ground where the crane had been. “It was very time consuming and we had to bring in casual staff. So Mexteds said ‘we’ll have a go at building something’ because there was nothing on the market that was available to do the job.”
Mexteds came up with the concept of a goal post shifter that would work off our turf tyred tractor, avoiding damage to the turf. In consultation with McCready Engineering of Pauatahanui, Mexteds designed and constructed a goal post shifter that is fast, safe and requires less manpower. The rugby posts are simply clamped, lifted out, rotated to the horizontal position and lowered to the ground ready to be dismantled. Replacing the posts is just as easy. “After Saturday rugby games we can go in on a Sunday morning, pull out the rugby posts ready for an afternoon or evening game of soccer,” says Chris Parkinson, Mexteds Operations Manager. Brett Sipthorpe is very pleased with Mexteds’ solution to the problem. “Mexteds went away and came back with the post shifter. Now there is no need to build ply roads and no need to hire casual staff - two people can do the job in half an hour. It works brilliantly,”