• Welcome to the Green and Gold Rugby forums. As you can see we've upgraded the forums to new software. Your old logon details should work, just click the 'Login' button in the top right.

Ballymore Redevelopment

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
I thought Perrin park was being touted as a new hub for the Roar and also the Womens Rugby World Cup bid in 2029?

I'd imagine with the above two facts in mind, it'd be an easy sell of 'reusing existing facilities where possible' as the 20-30k stadium isn't built for one purpose.

Roar would like that to be the case, but no.

QLD Govt released a stadium taskforce review for Queensland last year and one finding was that no additional stadiums are required in SEQ, that included boutique stadiums. It’s believed there’s capacity within the existing stadiums for the foreseeable future.
 

KevinO

John Hipwell (52)
The Government has nominated Ballymore for Hockey, although I suspect Hockey AU will have have something to say about it (see World Cup comments above!) and it will eventually end up at Comslie with fuck all crowd to watch.
First, Australian hockey matches will be sold out if they keep current form. F all crowds is rubbish for hockey in this country.

And you can't really begrudge QLD hockey and Hockey AU wanting to have there own facilities in Brisbane capable of hosting internationals, QLD has produced some of the best hockey players in Australia. Including the best player ever in the world and has one of the worst hockey centers in the country. It does not even have the lighting to host a televised game.

I love both sports, have played both and will most likely be attending the games at either stadium as I have a couple of friends whos kids are currently in the U21 side who are hopefully playing in the games with the current timeline.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
in fairness Qld Hockey did have theirs own facility. A fantastic one. It’s shite now though. Agree that from a legacy piece it would be better to update that one. But it’s nowhere. Would be a waste of money making it “world class”. Probably deserves some upgrades to at least make it suitable for international teams to train at as we’ll need those.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
QLD Hockey’s facilities weren’t been put forward because they’re too far out from the city and in a shit area, which doesn’t fit with the games design of having everything practically relevant as close proximity to the CBD as they can.

And, QLDs premier hockey facilities arguably now resides on the Gold Coast, Hockey Queensland were able to secure a major investment for the upgrade of the GC facility as part of the commonwealth games, which undermines the argument for additional funding for one in Brisbane to host major events.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
great news, time to start construction then!

Image below shows the changes to the masterplan, the 4 buildings along butterfield st removed. Which means the existing Rugby House remains instead.

They also restricted the terms of use for the other buildings, but it should still give the QRU enough flexibility to lease the space to sport and medical related businesses and generate some income.
882E064B-7694-4C1E-8950-FC170EC524FE.jpeg
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
So from reading through the MID approval:
- Swim School and Rock Climbing Facility both approved.
- On top of their own space used, QRU are able to lease out a further 5,000 sqm for businesses which fall into the categories of: commercial sports, recreational facilities, sports administration and sports medicine/or allied health.
- 5,000 sqm commercial space at going rates in Brisbane is anywhere between $1.5 - $2.5 million a year in income. But given the restrictive nature of what can be based there, they're not likely to build all 5,000 sqm for a number of years.

But at this stage QRU only have funding for the NRTC, the remainder of the projects remain unfunded.
 

Ignoto

John Thornett (49)
- On top of their own space used, QRU are able to lease out a further 5,000 sqm for businesses which fall into the categories of: commercial sports, recreational facilities, sports administration and sports medicine/or allied health.
Given how close Ballymore is to QUT, it'd be great if they could do something similar to what the Brumbies do with the AIS with Sports medince/trainers/dieticians etc

Some may snicker, but given how much space they have for the categories you mentioned, it'd be interesting to see if they/the Qld government would be willing to invest in the e-sports side. It could be a pioneering move and if the 'Queensland Reds' have an esports team in various games, it could go a long way into getting infront of a wide range of younger audiences.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Eastern Stand facelift:
01B86DB3-096C-4A26-9BB4-3019B9205C80.jpeg


‘The Hill’ will be retained with new building behind it
841FD2AD-3C34-4BC5-A197-5747E155FF69.jpeg


Back of Eastern Stans, redeveloped for sport climbing/bouldering
809B41BE-9C58-4071-922F-2F2C4D6F2A66.jpeg


Hockey during the Olympics
B56BDA7A-BBEC-4456-ABA7-EAE0C34C7F74.jpeg
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)

KevinO

John Hipwell (52)
Harlequins Stadium (The Stoop) is a case study of where a temporary hockey pitch overlay has been played in a rugby stadium

Great Britain and New Zealand played an international match there in 2019, and England Hockey are planning on more games in 2022. The International Hockey Federation now use that as an example of a temporary pitch which meet Tier 1 certification for hosting events like the Olympics/World Cup etc.

View attachment 12874
FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.

That specific pitch was approved for 3 days play, FIH used that as a case study and have since developed guidelines and approvals for temporary overlay pitches, including Global standard required for events like the World Cup and the Olympics greater then 3 days.
 
Last edited:

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath. They currently have a different Tier 1 certification category which allows England to use the Stoop for International weekends.
2A4C0054-1E79-4A9A-9952-F26DEFEC4A17.jpeg
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
FIH have only approved use of this style pitch in events that do not require teams to train, and compete daily for more than 3 consecutive days. Also no case study has been completed on the effects of leaving this style pitch down for a month will have on the surface underneath.

Surely BOCOG would be happy to do a relay of the turf when the games are over? If the ground underneath's somewhat compacted that's a challenge a good groundsman should be able to handle.
 
Last edited:

Wilson

David Codey (61)
Surely BOCOG would be happy to do a relay of the turf when the games are over? If the ground underneath's somewhat compacted that's a challenge a good groundsman should be able to handle.
You'd have to think that's the plan. There's no shortage of good rugby facilities around Brisbane if the Reds then need to relocate while it's going on.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Olympics will be held in 23 Jul - 8 Aug so Super Rugby(Indo-Pacific) should be done by then.

With 3 fields at Ballymore under the new development the Reds could give up 2 for Olympic preparation and still use the 3rd anyway.

If the turf is damaged it’s not really an issue, that would all be included as part of the leasing costs for BOCOG to rent out the facilities.
 

KevinO

John Hipwell (52)
Surely BOCOG would be happy to do a relay of the turf when the games are over? If the ground underneath's somewhat compacted that's a challenge a good groundsman should be able to handle.
I was meaning effects on the hockey surface towards the end of comp, if the ground underneath does any type of shifting the hockey surface could become dangerous and unplayable.
 
Top