Oh really Len?

Full marks to Auckland mayor Len Brown for trying to steal the limelight, but this comment cannot go unchallenged. The Herald reports on how Eden Park fared with last night's big crowd, and notes (with our emphasis added):

Auckland Mayor Len Brown caught the train from Britomart and spent the game seated next to All Black legend Graham Mourie.

"There were lots of people saying 'Good job, Mr Mayor'," he said, "and you had this sense of optimism in the crowd. At the ground, there is an outstanding presence of police and security who are highly visible.

"I've had major oversight of this Eden Park project to make sure everything is done right and I am very confident."

Oh really Len? The decision to upgrade Eden Park was finally taken in February 2007. At that point, Len Brown had yet to even be elected mayor of Manukau City, Helen Clark was still the Prime Minister, Dick Hubbard was the mayor of Auckland and the decision to create an Auckland supercity had not been reached.

For Len Brown to now claim Eden Park as his baby is, at the most charitable, grandstanding. He's been the mayor of Auckland City for less than 10 months, and his input into the Eden Park redevlopment will have been, at the most, oversight of the finishing touches.

But that's Len Brown. We can only wonder if he took the train TO Britomart as well as from Britomart to Eden Park, or whether he was driven.