Qld Premier Rugby 2023

[JRugby]

The reluctance to travel more than 20 minutes from your front door to play speaks volumes to the some of the attitudes in QPR. The uproar of Bond hosting a finals round last year was a joke and if your of the view that you shouldn't have had to travel for it, you should take a long look at yourself in the mirror.

 

[warhorse]

The reluctance to travel more than 20 minutes from your front door to play speaks volumes to the some of the attitudes in QPR. The uproar of Bond hosting a finals round last year was a joke and if your of the view that you shouldn't have had to travel for it, you should take a long look at yourself in the mirror.

Totally agree. For a number of years my son was living in London and playing Club/Grassroots rugby. On a visit over to the UK to see him, I decided to go with him on a Saturday to watch him play. No car so we had to walk 15 minutes to the train. Train ride of about 30 minutes. Line maintenance so then a bus journey of about 15 minutes to the nearest station. Walk of 10 minutes from station to opposition club rooms. My son's team was playing on the opposition's extra fields which were another 15-20 minute walk away. All this in reverse at the end of the game. All this on a beautiful but bitterly cold December day in London. The saving grace was the wonderful food and hospitality put on by the opposition for the visiting players and spectators(there were only two of us). Players in Brisbane have it easy.

 

[SouthernX]

yeah I’m gonna take the side of “take a good long look at yourself in the mirror” and say it’s not ideal to play a finals 90 minute car ride down the M1.

like Phil pointed out… not too much concern for the players, they’ve worked all season to get to the big dance that a car ride is peanuts compared to the sacrifice they did 2 nights a week going to training for 6 months…

where it didn’t make sense was the friends & family who generally show more of a interest come finals time to go support their players… lot of ppl couldn’t be assed going down to the QLD/NSW border when there’s plenty of practical venues in Brisbane to support the Brisbane teams playing finals footy in the Brisbane rugby comp.

anyways moot point from 2024… we will all be back at the home of rugby, ballymore for qpr finals

 

[JRugby]

yeah I’m gonna take the side of “take a good long look at yourself in the mirror” and say it’s not ideal to play a finals 90 minute car ride down the M1.

then in your view, it's not ideal to include Bond, or any other team outside of Metro Brisbane in the competition. Another bloke who detests the demise of rugby but is blind to the role he plays in it.

 

[Adam84]

I thought the whole thing was an overreaction; it was one game due to Ballymore construction and the concept was agreed to by the clubs. Brisbane people holiday/vist the gold coast in droves every weekend it wasn't unfamiliar terriroty. Gold Coast/Bond Uni have done a great job reviving the grassroots pathway on the gold coast in the face of the Titans and Suns, and really this was a small investment by the QPR community as payback to support that.

Importantly though the relevance to this topic is; if you're going to discuss expansion of the Queensland Premier Rugby outside of the existing Brisbane catchment, teams would have to travel more however i think there would be a general opposition to this.

 

[SouthernX]

then in your view, it's not ideal to include Bond, or any other team outside of Metro Brisbane in the competition. Another bloke who detests the demise of rugby but is blind to the role he plays in it.

Yes I have been critical of bond/breakers before

the breakers almost went belly up - that lifeline thrown by Bond really turned their fortunes around…

I would prefer a brisbane centric competition with bond playing in the Gold Coast comp - but I was simply providing feedback as to why most ppl were critical of why a final series between Brisbane clubs was being played on the Gold Coast

 

[Adam84]

A handful of vocal individuals, not most people.

A team back on the Sunshine Coast and some kind of representation in the Ipswich or Logan growth corridors should be a priority for the QPR in the next 5-6 years. Understand the need for a pragmatic approach to expansion due to costs/depth etc. But it won't help the game long term if it doesn't grow outside the inner city pocket of Brisbane.

If Brisbane

 

[PhilClinton]

The conversation has obviously taken a turn here, so whilst we are on the topic...

Is there really a benefit to having Sunny Coast and Gold Coast teams playing in a competition which is 90% Brisbane based? Or are they better off keeping the best players in their respective regional competitions and trying to make them stronger?

The Sunshine Coast competition in particular has some really good players running around in it and having played a couple of games in it myself a number of years ago, was very enjoyable with good sportsmanship between the clubs.

 

[Confucius Say]

Bond supporters travel to Brisbane in big numbers? No

 

[Confucius Say]

You’re not growing the game when you have countless teams that don’t get a game because there’s no depth. Like the school associations, only a couple of schools can play games down to a reasonable level.

However, the Sunshine Coast has a comparable population to Canberra and Newcastle. The former obviously has a super rugby team and the latter a Shute Shield team. So maybe there is a case if the area can get their shit together. Before the NRL do.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Bring back the Stingrays!

Please don't. Not having lower grades means blokes were training not getting a game, travelling to Brisbane getting beaten by 100 points, missing out on Sunny Coast club footy while their mates were playing 15mins from home and on the cans and having a great time a couple of minutes after fulltime.

For the Sunshine Coast to work you would need a fiscally strong club like Noosa just to be included rather than some bullshit made up Barbarian club.

 

[Kitwalker]

Best facilities? Visiting teams aren’t even given a dressing shed on days when the AFL field is in use. Yet Bond allocated two sheds for themselves. You would think that a couple of dressing sheds in the recently constructed grandstand/club house wouldn’t have been too much to ask for.

Don’t be be a hater Bulldog. It’s not their fault that Wests facilities aren’t the best…..

 

[Kitwalker]

yeah I’m gonna take the side of “take a good long look at yourself in the mirror” and say it’s not ideal to play a finals 90 minute car ride down the M1.

like Phil pointed out… not too much concern for the players, they’ve worked all season to get to the big dance that a car ride is peanuts compared to the sacrifice they did 2 nights a week going to training for 6 months…

where it didn’t make sense was the friends & family who generally show more of a interest come finals time to go support their players… lot of ppl couldn’t be assed going down to the QLD/NSW border when there’s plenty of practical venues in Brisbane to support the Brisbane teams playing finals footy in the Brisbane rugby comp.

anyways moot point from 2024… we will all be back at the home of rugby, ballymore for qpr finals

They were at Bond as most clubs in Brisbane have facilities that are sub standard. Norths great fields but their clubhouse is from the 60’s. The filth‘s fields were rubbish and they actually were going to play the finals there until the QRU pulled it out from under due to the state of the fields.

 

[Bulldog]

Don’t be be a hater Bulldog. It’s not their fault that Wests facilities aren’t the best…..

It was just that someone else posted that Bond had the best facilities. I was just suggesting that the “best facilities” probably don’t see the girls getting dressed in a pop ups and the only men’s team to get a shower being Premier grade? Stan alone Facilities for Women are a real issue across the competition. In fact I hear that they were overlooked in the original Ballymore designs.

 

[Adam84]

It was just that someone else posted that Bond had the best facilities. I was just suggesting that the “best facilities” probably don’t see the girls getting dressed in a pop ups and the only men’s team to get a shower being Premier grade? Stan alone Facilities for Women are a real issue across the competition. In fact I hear that they were overlooked in the original Ballymore designs.

Ballymore features mens and women’s change-rooms, they were in the original as well they’ve just made them bigger in the final design

 

[Cymru]

It was just that someone else posted that Bond had the best facilities. I was just suggesting that the “best facilities” probably don’t see the girls getting dressed in a pop ups and the only men’s team to get a shower being Premier grade? Stan alone Facilities for Women are a real issue across the competition. In fact I hear that they were overlooked in the original Ballymore designs.

Given Ballymore got Government funding as the new national HQ for women's rugby I reckon that's a bit of a myth.

 

[SouthernX]

Considering bulldog said “overlooked” in original plans and Adam stated change rooms size were increased they both can be right.

how long has “the original ballymore development” saga been going for? I remember Johnny Howard announced funding for it & qld very own Kevin Rudd said it was a waste of money … all the way back in 2007.

tell me again how much interest there was in woman’s sport back in 07? Next to nothing… supporting our woman in sports has only been a recent phenomenon and there’s still a lot more work to be done… but it’s a start which is the main thing.

 

[Adam84]

Is there really a benefit to having Sunny Coast and Gold Coast teams playing in a competition which is 90% Brisbane based? Or are they better off keeping the best players in their respective regional competitions and trying to make them stronger?

Yes there is a benefit, it provides a pathway for representative rugby for those regions without forcing them to move to Brisbane.

Guys like Tate McDermott and Carter Gordon aren't moving back to the Sunshine Coast to play rugby for the Noosa Dolphins after school. You aren't keeping the best players in their respective regional competitions, they are forced to move to Brisbane, stay and plateau at a level below their potential, or worse yet swap codes and play QRL.

Once a region like Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast achieves a critical mass of players, there's no reason you cant achieve both a high level of community rugby, and cater for a prems team.

 

[Adam84]

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Yes there is a benefit, it provides a pathway for representative rugby for those from those regions without forcing them to move to Brisbane.

Guys like Tate McDermott and Carter Gordon aren't moving back to the Sunshine Coast to play rugby for the Noosa Dolphins after school. You aren't keeping the best players in their respective regional competitions, they are forced to move to Brisbane, stay and plateau at a level below their potential, or worse yet swap codes and play QRL.

Once a region like Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast achieves a critical mass of players, there's no reason you cant achieve both a high level of community rugby, and cater for a prems team.

As soon as they get a development contract with the Reds it's all too hard to play for SC or GC. Just easier to be 10mins away from a prems team than drive 3hrs return for training.