Cowboys vs Broncos derby pours $750k into Townsville economy

The Cowboys v Broncos double header has booked out hotels and lit a fire in the heart of Townsville’s CBD — with 12,000L of beer expected to be sold inside the stadium. SEE THE NUMBERS

Mark Rugg, owner of The Taphouse, City Lane, Townsville, says business will be good due to the Broncos v Cowboys game this week. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisolm

Thousands of visitors will stampede into Townsville for the Cowboys vs Broncos derby on Saturday, with 12,000 litres of beer expected to be poured inside the stadium and $750,000 spilling out into the local economy.

It’s a special event as the first Queensland derby for the NRLW, and follows the Cowboys women winning their first-ever game, taking down reigning champs Newcastle.

Kicking off at 12.15pm and followed by the men’s game at 3pm, the stadium is a sell-out, with 850 staff on hand.

They’re expected to dish out a whopping 3000 pies, 11,000 serves of chips and 750 hot dogs on top of the 12,000 litres of beer.

In the CBD, the Taphouse Brewery in City Lane will be going through 200-500 litres of beer, owner and founder Mark Rugg said.

Taphouse Brewery’s Mark Rugg says the stadium is the best thing to happen to Townsville.

“We certainly go through kegs of our own,” he said.

“There will be a lot of lagers sold. You can’t go for the big heavy hitters when you’re drinking for 10 hours.”

Having migrated to Townsville from New Zealand in 2011 and opening the Taphouse in 2015, Mr Rugg has both the Cowboys and Raiders to support in the final eight.

“In my 12 years of living here, the stadium is the best thing that has happened to this city,” he said.

Closer to the water, The Ville is fully booked Friday and Saturday nights.

A spokeswoman said they were putting on free buses from the stadium back to the resort for Cowboys fans who want to kick on after the game.

Chad Townsend of the Cowboys looks on during the round 22 NRL match between Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys at Cbus Super Stadium. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The match is sold out and the game will be on the big screen at The Ville.

“We’re looking forward to a busy weekend across the property,” the spokeswoman said. “Go Cowboys!”

Townsville MP Scott Stewart said the city has proven time and again it is the capital of events in the north.

Mark Rugg expects to pour upwards of 200L of beer on Saturday.

“With so many visitors to Townsville coming from throughout North Queensland and the rest of the state, we’re expecting hotels to be close to capacity and businesses to be busy across the weekend,” Mr Stewart said.

Townsville Enterprise Director of Visitor Economy and Marketing Lisa Woolfe said the flow-on effect from events like the derby is where the value is found.

“Not only will we see people flock to the city for the NQ Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos game at the stadium next weekend, but we have the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the Strand Ephemera and the Townsville Running Festival happening as well.”

While the beers will be flowing across Townsville, punters and publicans would do well to keep an eye on their transactions; the beer tax went up 2.2 per cent on Tuesday.

The latest half-yearly increase means the beer tax has gone up 10 per cent since the federal election in May 2022. The increase means the tax on a full-strength carton is $20, $4 on a round of four full-strength pints and $80 for a full-strength keg.

Originally published as Cowboys vs Broncos derby pours $750k into Townsville economy