Aaron Cruden ‘stunned’ at welcome

MEDIA RELEASE
Blacksheepdesign

28/10/11

Aaron Cruden ‘stunned’ at welcome

All Black, Aaron Cruden was “stunned” at the welcome he received at the “Cruden Zone” event in the Square, Palmerston North yesterday.

Blacksheepdesign, the organisers of the event, invited Mr Cruden to their offices, where he caught up with a few of his Turbo teammates and Manawatu Rugby Union chief executive John Knowles. All were genuinely excited to see him and eager to learn how he’d been getting on in his new role with the All Blacks.

The group shared pizza but, perhaps due to team orders, turned down the offer of a cold beer. He signed two limited edition replica match balls; one for Ronald McDonald House and the other for Arohanui Hospice. Arohanui are auctioning their ball tonight with a reserve price of $250.

As he mounted the back of the black ute taking him to the event, Mr Cruden said in his now familiar humble tone, “I’m a nobody, there’ll only be about 20 people there.”

As the vehicle entered the square his eyes bulged as he saw the crowd of around 3,000 people who had gathered next to the i-site in anticipation of meeting their hero.

Stacey Cottrill, director of Blacksheepdesign said, “Aaron was lovely and so down to earth. He was literally blown away by the response and couldn’t believe that so many people had turned out just to see him.”

Hundreds of photographs have been uploaded to the Blacksheepdesign facebook page. People are invited to tag themselves in the photographs in order to be in with a chance to win a replica of the gift that the company gave to Mr Cruden. He was delighted when Mrs Cottrill handed over a black skateboard deck featuring a design with the names of the World Cup winning All Blacks squad.

After leaving the stage, Mr Cruden said, “That was a little bit crazy. I can’t believe how many people turned out just to see me – it was mind blowing. “

Mrs Cottrill was happy with how the event came together, “We’ve really only had two days to pull this thing together. The response from businesses and individuals has been amazing and really shows the positive can-do attitude that exists in the region. “

To enter Blacksheepdesign’s competition, tag yourself in the Cruden Zone album on their facebook page: http://facebook.com/blacksheepdesign

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