Blighs word on a CQ NRL stadium | Bundaberg Rugby League | NRL Rugby in Bundaberg

Another box has been ticked in the battle to get an NRL license for Central Queensland.

Bid team boss Denis Keeffe was in Bundaberg earlier this month urging the region to get behind the push for a regional Queensland NRL side.

He said the region was “crying out for a side” and if his bid team did not snap it up, someone else would.

The case for a Central Queensland side has since grown.

In a big boost for the prospective side, Premier Anna Bligh, Member for Rockhampton Robert Schwarten and sport minister Phil Reeves have all recently committed the state government to the provision of a stadium if the CQ NRL bid team is successful.

The Premier originally signed the petition several months ago indicating her support and, during her most recent visit to open the Yeppoon Hospital last week, she reaffirmed her government’s commitment to an NRL stadium.

“I support the bid for a CQ NRL licence and I understand that to really make a success of that would require investment in a stadium,” she said.

“You would have to be mad to grant a licence anywhere other than Central Queensland – the licence shouldn’t go anywhere else.”

Bid chairman Geoff Murphy was appreciative of the Premier’s commitment.

“The Premier’s supportive comments are on top of similar commitments from our local member, Robert Schwarten, and the sport minister Phil Reeves, so the bid team and the people of CQ can now be sure that when we prove our sustainability to the NRL, the government will invest in an NRL stadium here in CQ,” he said.

Keeffe was pleased to have this major component of the project confirmed.

“We know the CQ NRL team will be a competitive and viable force in the NRL and to have this very large box ticked is a massive boost for the bid,” he said.

“We now have serious traction.”