 The logo of the bid | |
| Status |  Unsuccessful |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Region | Central Queensland |
| Proposed stadium | Browne Park, Rockhampton |
| Sport information | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | National Rugby League (NRL) |
| History | |
| First proposed | March 2009 |
The Central Queensland NRL bid was a bid launched in March 2009 [1] that tried to represent Central Queensland in an expanded National Rugby League competition. The bid was headquartered in Rockhampton, Queensland.
Rugby League has been played in Central Queensland for over a century and is currently represented in the Queensland Cup by the Central Queensland Capras. The bid aims to unite a region from Bundaberg in the south to Mackay in the north and west to the state border. [2] Local government areas in the bid region, such as Rockhampton Regional Council [3] and Mackay Regional Council [4] also officially support the bid.
Rockhampton's largest stadium is Browne Park and is home to the Capras. The bid has proposed that the club will play out of a new stadium to be built in Rockhampton, called CQ Stadium & Convention Centre. [5]
In July 2013 both sides of government promised a detailed design and feasibility study for a new stadium to be conducted and carried out before 2015. [6]
Bid Chairman Geoff Murphy has suggested that while the club will call Rockhampton home, both trials and premiership matches could be taken to other cities in the CQ NRL bid region, such as Mackay, when the team is admitted to the NRL. [7]
Since 2011 the bid has run junior development camps and organised matches against Northern Pride junior teams, [8] as well as matches against Marsden State High School in Brisbane and Keebra Park State High School on the Gold Coast. [9]
A public petition was launched in June 2009 and had reached 30,000 signatures by 2011. [1] The bid also envisions the development of feeder teams in the Queensland Cup, such as Bundaberg, [10] to provide direct pathways for juniors to progress into the NRL team. In 2011 CQ University partnered with the bid to become a major sponsor and in return will provide academic scholarships for players. [11]
Central Queensland University is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman Gardens in Rockhampton, however, it also has campuses in Adelaide (Wayville), Brisbane, Bundaberg (Branyan), Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Noosa, Perth, Rockhampton City, Sydney and Townsville. CQUniversity also partners with university centres in several regional areas across Australia.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
The Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They play in the Hostplus Cup in Queensland, which is a second-tier competition in Australia. Since 2023, they are one of the feeder clubs for the Dolphins in the Australian National Rugby League.
Browne Park is a rectangular football stadium located in the Rockhampton suburb of Wandal, Queensland, Australia. The venue has been the home of rugby football in Central Queensland since 1890 and today also hosts rugby union and soccer matches. It hosted a match of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. The ground was named Browne Park in 1958 as a posthumous honour to long serving president of Rockhampton Rugby League, Jack Browne who died in office.
David Taylor, also nicknamed "Coal Train", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row and prop in the NRL and the Super League in the 2000s and 2010s.
The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside the Northern Pride, and first competed in the 2008 season.
Jamie Simpson is a coach with the Central Queensland Capras, a feeder club for the NRL club the Brisbane Broncos in the Queensland Cup and a former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. Simpson played as a wing and as a centre. Simpson also played as a lock and five-eighth in his schoolboy years at St. Brendan's College, Yeppoon. Simpson is an avid worker in the community and is an ambassador for The Men of League Foundation and Lymphoma Australia.
Triple M Central Queensland is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It is owned by Southern Cross Austereo and broadcasts an Adult Contemporary (AC) format. It features both locally produced content and nationally syndicated content. It has two repeaters, one at Gladstone (95.1FM) and Mount Murchison (101.1FM). It was previously known as '101.5/95.1 Sea FM' until it was rebranded as Triple M in December 2016, alongside many other Southern Cross Austereo stations.
The National Rugby League is the top level rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 after the merger of the Australian Super League and the Australian Rugby League. Inaugurally containing 20 teams, rationalisation cut this number down to 14 by 2000, before the competition expanded back to 16 in 2007 and 17 in 2023. Debate regarding the expansion of the competition to 18 and even 20 teams is ongoing.
Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between 170–400 km (110–250 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more than 430,000 by 2031. It is the subject of the Draft Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan, which aims to facilitate this growth while protecting over 90% of the region from urban development.
Tim Glasby is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer. He played for the Melbourne Storm, with whom he won the 2017 NRL Grand Final and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League (NRL). He also represented Queensland in State of Origin. His positions were lock and prop.
Matthew Paul Minto is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who has previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. He also played for the Central Queensland Capras and Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup. He played at halfback and fullback.
The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in September 2014, first competing in the 2015 season. The side plays their home games at Jack Manski Oval.
Coen Hess is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Jonus Pearson is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Central Queensland Capras in the Queensland Cup.
The Queensland Country Rugby Union, or QCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of Queensland in Australia. It is affiliated with the Queensland Rugby Union.
The Pacific Coast Way is an Australian road route from Sydney, New South Wales to Cairns in Queensland. It has been designated by the Queensland Government as a State Strategic Touring Route.
Justin Loomans is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the North Queensland Cowboys in their inaugural season and later played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He primarily played on the wing or at centre.
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