Australia

‘Rockhampton, here we go’: League fans overjoyed to see NRL in central Queensland


Almost 60 years after Paul Hoolihan jogged into Browne Park to play his first rugby league game, the Rockhampton man is thrilled to be welcoming two NRL teams onto the same field.

The NRL confirmed the beef city would host the round 20 match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the South Sydney Rabbitohs next weekend.

Mr Hoolihan, chairman of the Browne Park Trust, said the news was “the best thing since sliced bread”.

“I played my first game of rugby league there in 1963,” he said.

“A lot of people have pulled together to bring this fairly quickly to a head.

“Rockhampton, here we go.”

The Round 20 match between the Dragons and Rabbitohs will be played at Browne Park in Rockhampton.(

ABC Capricornia: Paul Culliver

)

The proud central Queenslander said he still wore a Tongan training jersey gifted to him when Rockhampton hosted the World Cup in 2008.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever had an NRL match here,” he said.

“I just want to make sure that I’m there because I suppose when you say it, it really becomes history doesn’t it?

“It’s been a lot of hard work for a lot of people and that’s purely and simply to help the people of Rockhampton and central Queensland see a world-class game of Rugby League.”

‘Benefits outweigh costs’

The Rockhampton Regional Council said in a special meeting last week the game is predicted to inject five to ten times its $200,000 cost back into the local economy.

It put $50,000 towards the bid, managed by the Rockhampton Leagues Club, the Browne Park Trust and the Central Queensland Capras.

“We haven’t got the cost because the event hasn’t been held yet but we see that there is a true benefit there similar to other scale sporting events that we’ve had.

“We’ll work on that and be able to provide that information at a later date.”

Queensland Maroons player Ben Hunt waves to the Adelaide Oval crowd after State of Origin I.
Local legend Ben Hunt will play for the Dragons at Browne Park(

AAP: Dave Hunt

)

The return of local legends

The game will bring local legends from the Dragons, halfback Ben Hunt and coach Anthony Griffin, back home.

Former St Brendan’s coach Terry Hansen coached Hunt in high school.

“He’s a country boy at heart, he’s never forgotten where he comes from,” he said.

“It’ll be great.”

Calliope resident Phene Williams said she was looking forward to the game.

Ben Hunt running with the ball, green St Brendan's uniform.
Dragons star Ben Hunt spent two years at St Brendan’s College Yeppoon.(

Supplied: St Brendan’s College

)

Mt Larcom resident Jane Sibley said if she secured tickets, the family would also bring their grandparents from Gladstone.

“At a very minimum we’ll have grandma, grandad, myself, my partner and our two kids,” she said.

“The boys in our house are St George supporters, the girls are Penrith panthers fans so we back each other’s teams.

“It’s a family thing to do but our little man will be excited to get his jersey on and get to a game.”

A young girl and boy sitting in a crowd, boy giving a thumbs up, people behind.
Mt Larcom resident Jade Sibley says Hallie, 11 and Tyler, 10 are “footy mad”. (

Supplied: Jade Sibley

)

5,000 tickets up for grabs

Queensland Rugby League Central Division manager Rob Crow said tickets would go on sale on Tuesday through the Pilbeam Theatre website.

“We were offered three games, that’s the one I pursued I thought that would be of most interest to the people in our areas and the most exciting game,” he said.

“We’ve only got a capacity of 5,000 at Browne Park, so unfortunately there’ll probably be a lot of disappointed people.”

A boy and girl standing back to back, holding colourful team flags in front of a big stadium wall.
The Sibley siblings from central Queensland back different NRL teams.(

Supplied: Jade Sibley

)

He said ticket prices would be confirmed closer to the game.

“We do need that confirmed from the Apollo group of the NRL of just what we’ve got available and what we haven’t,” he said.

COVID-safe plan to be followed

Some residents are concerned about the risk of COVID but Mr Crow said all health guidelines would be followed.

“I was speaking to the coach of St George and he says it’s like being a caged animal, they’re quite brutal,” he said.

“They’ve got to train and basically go to their rooms but they come out of that fortnightly quarantine next Wednesday and they’re really looking forward to that.

“We’re waiting for advice from the Apollo group but we’re expecting that they won’t be able to mingle with fans.

“If anything eases further well that’ll be fantastic but at this point in time they’ve got to keep a distance from their fans.”

Mr Crow would not rule out the possibility of bringing more NRL games to the region.

“If this game goes off well and there’s an opportunity down the track we’ll certainly look for it,” he said.



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