Legend Gavin Shuker backs bid for touch football in Brisbane Olympics

Legendary player Gavin Shuker is backing a push to make touch football an Olympic sport in 2032. He outlines the reasons why and how his hometown of Rockhampton could cash in.

Rockhampton's Jaymon Bob representing the Australian open men's team. Photo: Glen Eaton/Aisle 5 Photo

International teams will be lining up to use Rockhampton as a training venue if the plan to have touch football at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is successful, according to Gavin Shuker.

Central Queensland’s legendary player has described as “absolutely awesome” the joint proposal being driven by the NRL and Touch Football Australia to have the sport included.

Shuker has reached the pinnacle of the game as a competitor and is also involved as a businessman, with his company Inferno Sports the official apparel supplier for the Federation of International Touch.

Touch legend Gavin Shuker is right behind the push to have the sport included in the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

He plans to advocate for the proposal every chance he gets, saying it would not only be a boon for the sport but also for Rockhampton, which he believes would be in high demand as a prospective base for Olympic teams as they prepare for the Games.

Central Queensland power brokers are keen to have the region well represented in 2032, with separate bids to have the Games’ rowing and canoeing events on Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River and sailing on the Capricorn Coast.

Shuker is daring to dream, saying it was amazing what a group of people could achieve if they put their mind to it.

He has represented Australia 97 times, and being the only player to have scored more than 100 touchdowns for his country.

Gavin Shuker before one of his World Cup appearances in Scotland.

He has played at seven World Cups, the most recent in England last year, which attracted a record 187 teams from 39 nations.

Shuker said the growing popularity of the sport globally and within Australia, where it boasts about 700,000 participants, should be a key consideration for the Brisbane Organising Committee when it makes its recommendations to the International Olympic Committee.

“Coming off the biggest World Cup ever held last year, I think it’s the perfect time to push the case for touch football’s inclusion in the Games,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful idea for a number of reasons.

Australia enjoyed plenty of success at the Touch World Cup in Nottingham, England, in 2024. Photo: Glen Eaton/Aisle 5 Photo

“One of the main benefits is that you don’t need any more infrastructure because they’ve got it there for the rugby 7s,” he said.

“It’s a non-contact sport, it’s the fastest form of football there is and it’s the only one where you can play mixed (male and female).

“The sport is on a massive trajectory so I think now is absolutely the right time.”

Shuker said Rockhampton would make for an ideal training venue, with 10 dedicated fields at its riverside headquarters.

There are 10 designated touch fields at the sport's Rockhampton headquarters - Cyril Connell Fields.

The high-quality players that the city continued to produce would also mean Olympic teams would have ready-made rivals for match practice.

“If any kind of announcement is made, you’d soon see a lot of people trying to book Rocky, that’s for certain,” he said.

Shuker said given Rockhampton’s reputation as a talent production line, representation would likely not be limited to just the training paddock.

“”There’s a good chance we could have Rocky players at the Games,” he said.

“We’ve currently got five players in the Australian men’s open size from a town of 80,000, which is pretty much unheard of in any other sport.”

Those players - Harry Griffin, Jardel and Jaymon Bob, Mal Kenny and Jayden Benbow - were instrumental in the Aussies winning the open men’s division at the 2024 World Cup.

Australia dominated at the week-long tournament, claiming gold in 12 of the 13 divisions.