$31.5 million National Rugby Training Centre opens at Ballymore

The $31.5 million National Rugby Training Centre has officially opened - signalling the rebirth of the Ballymore rugby union stadium in Brisbane and making it the home of women’s rugby and football in Australia with the Centre to also play an important role in the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Centre at Ballymore will become the new national headquarters for Women’s XV Rugby, housing the Australian Wallaroos team, while also serving as a new training base for the Queensland Reds Super Rugby team, Super W squads, the Reds 7s and Reds Academy plus elite pathway programs.

The world-class facility includes a rebuilt McLean Stand with a 3,000-spectator capacity, aquatic recovery centre, with separate facilities for men and women, and an 800 metre² high-performance gym.

It also features a 77-person capacity auditorium, 120-seat players’ lounge and function spaces, plus multiple change rooms and football offices that will serve as the home for the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) and Rugby Australia’s women’s referee programs.

The rebuilt McLean Stand extends the Ballymore facility’s capacity to 8,000, with the stadium set to host Wallaroos test matches, Queensland Premier Rugby finals, Japan Rugby League One Grand Final and the Brisbane Roar Women’s A-League home games in 2023/24.

Welcoming the new venue, QRU Chief Executive, David Hanham stated “it’s an exciting day for Ballymore as we open the NRTC and new McLean Stand. The NRTC will be a world-class high-performance facility that will leave a lasting legacy for Queensland Rugby men’s and women’s pathway programs through to the Wallabies and Wallaroos.

“The vision for Ballymore is to become a multi-sport precinct that will be Queensland’s first home for women’s rectangular sport. Ballymore will also be a great community venue that will create a family-fun festival atmosphere where you will want to arrive early and stay late.

“Our vision for Ballymore supports a golden runway of major Rugby and international sporting events leading into the 2032 Brisbane Olympics including the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour, as well as the 2027 Men’s and 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cups.”

The redevelopment was funded by the Australian Government ($15 million), Queensland Government ($15 million) and Queensland Rugby Foundation ($1.5 million). The new centre was built by the QRU’s leading contractors Buildcorp, with more than 1,000 construction jobs supported during the build.

As part of the QRU’s masterplan, designed by leading architects BlightRayner, the Ballymore site will become the 2032 Olympic venue for hockey and see the construction of a centre of excellence for Sport Climbing and Bouldering, plus a swim school to help build the next generation of Olympic athletes in multiple sports.

It will also include three new buildings with a total area of 5,000m2 reserved for sports administration, sports recreation, allied health and sports medicine, as well as transport and sustainability solutions to form a central part of Brisbane’s Olympic Green Corridor.

Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk noted “To have the Wallaroos and the Brisbane Roar women call Ballymore home is a tremendous vote of confidence in the venue which holds a special place in the hearts of Queensland sports lovers.

“As we head towards 2032, we expect to see more international teams choose Ballymore as their venue of choice, including the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup.”

Queensland Minister for Tourism and Sport, Stirling Hinchliffe added “Ballymore has been earmarked as a venue for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so it’s terrific to see such an impressive redevelopment and advanced legacy infrastructure completed nine years out from the Games.

“Planning to upgrade the Eastern Stand is also well advanced, which will bring the ground closer to that 12 to 15,000-seat capacity.

“The stadium has witnessed some historic moments in Australian sport over the years, including the Wallabies clinching the Bledisloe Cup back in 1992. Now it’s over to the next generation of athletes to make the new revamped Ballymore their field of dreams.”

Images courtesy of Blight Rayner Architecture.