The NRL has doubled down on its lashing of Canberra’s GIO Stadium, saying facilities there are more suited to park football than the big leagues.
League executive Jaymes Boland-Rudder blasted both the fan and athlete experience at the suburban stadium and said the capital was squandering the chance for economic stimulus other cities are reaping.
He added the league’s voice to calls for a new stadium to be built in Canberra’s city centre, with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr instead pushing for a redevelopment of the current site in Bruce.
GIO Stadium is in the suburb of Bruce, a 15-minute drive from Canberra’s centre with limited public transport access.
Boland-Rudder, who was giving evidence at a parliamentary inquiry looking at how to promote the significance of Australia’s national capital, said major rugby league events such as NRL All Stars matches and Tests wouldn’t be heading to the current site.
“It’s your best athletes, so they rightly expect to be playing in the best facilities and Canberra’s change rooms … they are sub-par at best,” he said.
“It’s what you would expect at park football, not for an international athlete.
“Credit to the ACT government, there is some small investment going in to enable improvements for the Raiders entering an NRLW team, but there’s still a long way to go.
“The Raiders and the Brumbies are fantastic teams that bring local communities together, but increasingly, Canberra will miss out on other content opportunities at the international level, and will miss out on content opportunities that can probably drive a great economic stimulus.”
Boland-Rudder said fans were paying the price for the lack of investment in current facilities, with minimal cover making for some wet and freezing nights at GIO Stadium.
“The basics like decent toilets, taking my six-year-old to the toilet at the stadium out here was a horrible experience,” he said.
“It actually drives families away from games, and if you think about what this elite content is meant to do, it’s meant to bring disparate parts of our community together for a really special moment.
“And if you’re not making that attractive for a family, it’s undermining a great opportunity, not just for our sport but also for us to achieve a community-building exercise more broadly.”
More stadium investment might be something of a touchy subject for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government, having copped fierce blowback in Tasmania after pledging $240 million for a new stadium along with another $65 million for a redevelopment of UTAS Stadium in Launceston.
Barr responded to the NRL’s submission to the inquiry last month by cheekily “welcoming” the league’s investment in any new stadium and suggested they should commit to bringing more marquee events to Canberra free of charge.
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
