Code wars: Cazalys group acquires Tjapukai Cultural Park for $10m, plans to build AFL club
Code wars have reignited in the Far North, with Cazalys and AFL Cairns landing a eight-figure deal that will put pressure on rugby league as the region’s dominant sport.
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Code wars have reignited in the Far North, with Cazalys and AFL Cairns landing a eight-figure deal that will put pressure on rugby league as the region’s dominant sport.
But rugby league powerbrokers say the emergence of the Cowboys NRLW high performance centre at Barlow Park along with the growth of the game in the region rival the rise of AFL in the Far North.
On Thursday night, it was announced Cazalys has bought the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Caravonica for $10m, with plans to transform it into an AFL club and community hub.
The site of a famous Indigenous cultural centre was listed in a sale by its owners earlier this year.
Now, the new facility will be developed into a social club, before plans take place about the feasibility of the site becoming the home of an AFL Cairns club over the next three to eight years.
Cazalys general manager Jason Wale said the move was building on Cazalys’ 70-year history in regional sports.
“For more than 40 years, Cazalys has built community hubs that have supported the growth of sport in the wider Cairns region and provided people with places to socialise,” he said.
“We’re now planning the next step – a club that can service a region that has been without a community hub of this nature.
“We will begin to announce our plans for the site and work towards all required planning approvals. We plan to make use of the existing structure.”
“The first Cazalys social club was established to help fund AFL. Cazalys has never deviated from that path of operating to fund the development of sport and the community. This next step for our club at Smithfield furthers that history.”
The South Cairns Sports Club at Bentley Park was officially opened in 2016 and Wale said they were looking to replicate that site’s strong financial performance in the Smithfield region.
“NRL, soccer and any other sport had the potential to acquire the site and turn it into a sporting organisation of some sort,” Wale said.
Chair of the Far North Queensland Rugby League Chey Bird said Tjapukai was not on the radar for FNQ Rugby League, emphasising the focus on potential NQ Cowboys NRLW pathways.
“It’s a massive shot in the arm for the female space in our region,” Bird said.
“It provides the ultimate pathway for our junior female participants, they can play from under-6 through to the NRLW right here in Cairns.
“If everything comes to fruition then our entire region stands to benefit in a huge number of ways.”
“We had another 1.5 per cent rise in participation for the 2024 season. We traditionally have year-on-year growth and have done for the last few years. It’s been underpinned by strong growth in the women’s game, which continues to grow.”
Bird said the potential for three AFL Cairns clubs in the Northern Beaches region, won’t be a threat to Ivanhoes Rugby League Club or the FNQRL competition.
“Ivanhoes is one of our oldest clubs as well as a traditional powerhouse of the competition,” he said.
“They have a great facility, but we also still have junior and seniors teams based in Mossman and Port Douglas along with the Redlynch Razorbacks.
“We’ve got a great spread and there’s no scope to create another club on the Northern Beaches.”
AFL Cairns said expectation is to build a football oval on the site, but it was unclear whether the area will open the door for an eighth club in the competition or the relocation of an existing club.
Deputy Mayor Brett Olds said the AFL had done an amazing job in Cairns over the last 30 years.
“They came into rugby league’s backyard years ago and have done a great job at grassroots,” he said.
“Everywhere Cazalys and AFL Cairns go, they get activity and get things happening.”
Olds said the potential of three AFL Cairns clubs in the Northern Beaches region won’t stunt the growth of AFL.
“There’s always pros and cons, but boats tend to rise in a high tide and competition is a good thing and growth is a great thing,” he said.
“Hopefully you get more kids playing the sport. It’ll be a 10 to 20 year plan and I think that’s what AFL Cairns have done well.
“Their plans for Cairns are decades in the making. This is to future proof the sport, I love rugby league but you only have the Ivanhoes Rugby League Club taking on the whole beaches and now you may have three Aussie rules clubs in the Northern Beaches, with Cape York House in Redlynch.
“(AFL) seems to be taking over and I think at the moment (rugby league) are being left behind in some aspects, especially with junior sports.”
Located at 4 Skyrail Drive in Smithfield, Tjapukai Cultural Park previously operated as a cultural hub since its construction around 2000.
The venue provided visitors from around the world an opportunity to experience the region’s Aboriginal culture, which dates back more than 40,000 years.
The facility was already in financial strife before the Covid pandemic hit, but the complete removal of international tourists added to the financial complications.
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Originally published as Code wars: Cazalys group acquires Tjapukai Cultural Park for $10m, plans to build AFL club
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