Australian rugby and sports science base opens in Sydney’s Moore Park

Dubbed as “Sydney’s answer to the Australian Institute of Sport”, the new multi-million dollar Rugby Australia Building at Sydney’s Moore Park, next to Allianz Stadium, has been officially opened.

Housing the University of Technology Sydney’s sports science and research divisions, the Rugby Australia Building is an integrated sports hub that aims to not only benefit grassroots rugby, but will also back a generation of students and researchers working alongside elite athletes and coaches.

NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres and Federal Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Craig Laundy opened the building today, unveiling a plaque and touring the high-performance centre.

The Ministers were joined by Wallabies players Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley, Wallaroos player Mollie Gray, Australian Men’s Sevens player Lewis Holland, Australian Women’s Sevens player Mahalia Murphy, Rugby Australia (Australian Rugby Union) Chairman Cameron Clyne, UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs and Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust Chairman Tony Shepherd.

Clyne commented “our co-location with UTS, within one of the nation’s leading sporting precincts, will provide tremendous benefits for our national high-performance programs.”

The Rugby Australia Building will be the new home of the Wallabies, Wallaroos and the Australian Sevens teams and a national headquarters for Indigenous and grassroots rugby development.

The building will see more than 100 sporting professionals embedded with more than 700 students and researchers.

Explaining the value of the building, UTS Professor of Sport and Exercise Science Aaron Coutts explains “the big thing is positioning UTS with the partners of the SCG (and Allianz Stadium). If we want to do great work, we have to get in the jungle so to speak. We’ll be amongst the athletes and seeing the real problems that they face every day.

“By doing that, we can partner with them and they can access our facilities and expertise to produce cutting-edge research. At present, we don’t see the main issues that coaches and their athletes go through in their lives.

“It will change the experience for the players because they’ll have researchers and PhD students working closely with club staff, who will be able to feed information back to the coaches to help solve their problems with evidence.”

Studying the life of a footballer will also be a focus area for Coutts and his team, with issues around mental health and retirement more important than ever.

Coutts adds “athletes go through a challenging stage at the end of their career and for some, those mental health issues could be linked to concussion. American football for example, has some pretty compelling evidence, but clubs and codes are managing the issue much better than they were five or ten years ago.

“We’re simply looking to be a support system to help coaches and staff make the right decisions about their players, on and off the field.

“In the past, we’ve partnered with many sports but now we’re at their doorstep. Students will have the opportunity to engage in practical experience. We believe that this prepares our research students for the work force and provides our partners with a real competitive advantage.” 

21st July 2017 - NSW GOVERNMENT RELEASES ‘COMMERCIALITY FRAMEWORK’ FOR STADIA

4th May 2017 - ALLIANZ STADIUM GROUND STAFF TO WORK AROUND THE CLOCK TO PREPARE SURFACE FOR A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 

3rd May 2017 - MASTER PLAN FOR SYDNEY’S MOORE PARK PROPOSES ENHANCED CONSERVATION AND NEW SPORT FACILITIES 

12th May 2016 - PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER COMMUNITY, EDUCATION AND SPORTING HUB IN SYDNEY’S MOORE PARK

14th April 2016 - SYDNEY’S STADIUM DEBATE OVER AS NSW GOVERNMENT COMMITS $1.6 BILLION TO REFURBISHMENTS

13th April 2016 - NEW FIVE-YEAR ARU STRATEGIC PLAN AIMS TO BROADEN PLAYER BASE

16th March 2015 - SCG TRUST AND UTS PARTNER TO CREATE SPORTS CENTRAL CAMPUS 

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