‘A major coup’: Top sports teams set to call Queensland home
Queensland has stolen some top sporting teams from New South Wales, the Premier saying he would “unashamedly pilfer major sporting events from other states”.
Up to 90 Rugby Australia athletes and staff will move to Queensland from New South Wales, with the Sevens and Wallaroos to be headquartered in Queensland as part of a major event raid.
The men’s and women’s Rugby Sevens programs and the Wallaroos will be based at Ballymore, which is also set to undergo a major state government-led upgrade involving the demolition and redevelopment of Ballymore’s obsolete Eastern Stand and the construction of a world-class high-performance Teams in Gold training facility.
The facility will feature an integrated 2400-seat grandstand, with a fourth floodlit training field and floodlights for Ballymore’s main field.
Ballymore’s main field will also be upgraded to a modern 8000-capacity multi-purpose venue to host junior, club, provincial and international matches.
The project will commence later this year and be delivered through the Games Legacy fund.
The transformation will also provide a year-round base for the Wallabies when in Queensland and host the Rugby Australia Awards twice over the next seven years.
Queensland will also host additional events including the Rugby Australia Summit, the Oceania/World Rugby Summit and SANZAAR Board Meeting.
“We said we would unashamedly pilfer major sporting events from other states, and we’re doing exactly that, to deliver more jobs and more events for Queensland,” Premier David Crisafulli said.
“Queensland is the new home of Rugby Sevens and the Wallaroos because organisations want to be part of what we are building here in Queensland.”
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Minister for Sport and Racing and Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tim Mander hoped Ballymore’s upgrades would encourage more Queenslanders to take up the sport.
“This is exactly what our strategy ‘Queensland Spirit’ is about, making Queensland the home of Australian sport, attracting high-performance programs and major sporting events to our state, and inspiring more Queenslanders to get active,” Mander said.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said the benefits of today’s announcement will be felt for generations and evolve Queensland into a spiritual home for Rugby.
“All of this has been made possible because of the strength of the partnership between the Queensland Government, the Queensland Rugby Union and Rugby Australia,” Waugh said.
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