Historic win gives impetus to plans for new Townsville stadium

The North Queensland Cowboys’ historic win in the NRL Grand Final is adding impetus to plans for a new stadium for the city of Townsville.

In the aftermath of the Cowboys’ win on Sunday night, Townsville Enterprise Chief Executive Patricia O’Callaghan called on the Federal and Queensland Governments to fund already developed plans for a new stadium and entertainment facility in the city.

As part of a plan to transform the inner city including an arts precinct, boardwalks, restaurants and hotels, Townsville City Council and Townsville Enterprise want to see an integrated sports stadium and entertainment centre built on the banks of Ross Creek in the city centre.

The current 1300Smiles Stadium sits 17 kilometres from the city centre, and was partly built on the remnants of an old trotting track in the lead-up to the Cowboys inaugural NRL season in 1995.

O’Callaghan explained “this has been an ongoing campaign for funding to build a desperately needed facility for a region that is now home to two national premiership teams.

“They deserve it, their fans deserve it and this community deserves it.

“We heard the commentator say the Prime Minister put his hand up to shout for a new Stadium and we hope the success of the Cowboys helps secure the funds we need to give them a facility they deserve.

“This is about more than a stadium – this facility will be an iconic, multi-use, international standard stadium and entertainment centre, create thousands of jobs and attract millions of dollars in additional investment into the region.”

Addressing the ANZ Stadium crowd in Sydney following the Cowboys' epic 17-16 grand final win over Brisbane on Sunday, Cowboys’ match winner Johnathan Thurston also called out for a new Stadium, stating “the last thing I want to say is that North Queensland deserves a new stadium."

During the Queensland State election earlier this year, both Labor and the LNP promised $100 million to the project.

However, with the Stadium project estimated to cost more than $200 million considerable extra funding is needed.

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