Mudgeeraba Redbacks’ bid to promote into Rugby League Gold Coast A-grade rejected

MUDGEERABA have been left devastated after their submission to promote into the Rugby League Gold Coast A-grade competition was knocked back.

MUDGEERABA have been left devastated after their submission to promote into the Rugby League Gold Coast A-grade competition was knocked back.

The Redbacks have openly voiced their desire to enter the top tier and backed up those intentions with a strong year on the field, headlined by winning the Doug Lipp Cup reserve grade premiership as well as making finals in C-grade and under-19s.

The club entered their application by the end of September deadline but has since learnt it had been rejected by the RLGC board.

They then requested a meeting with the board – held on Thursday afternoon – to understand the reasons behind the decision, though it did not cause a reversal.

Mudgeeraba’s current location has been known to be an issue, with the open layout of Firth Park making it difficult to collect gate receipts.

Mudgeeraba captain Kyle Williams with committee member Pieter Berkhout and juniors Miller Raven, Cooper Raven, Vann Raven and Brodie Simmons at the site where they hope to move to in 2020. Picture: Jerad Williams

They are in relocation discussions with Turner’s Engineering, who have bought 54ha of land behind Mudgeeraba Bowls Club that is proposed to become the home of the Gold Coast Show plus greyhound and harness racing, but a move from Firth wouldn’t happen before 2020.

Player depth is also understood to have been an area of concern.

RLGC manager Scott Dunshea told the Bulletin that the Redbacks had put forward “a very healthy submission” and that a 2020 promotion was not out of the question.

“The board was very open in saying it wasn’t a dead and buried case for future, we just weren’t accepting for 2019,” he said.

The Redbacks after winning the Doug Lipp Cup reserve grade premiership. Picture: Rugby League Gold Coast

“They wanted to get a bit more about the reasons why so the club can go away and work at those things.”

The fear, however, is that if players and sponsors cannot wait another 12 months for a crack at A-grade, then Mudgeeraba may lose momentum in their bid to continue knocking on the door.

The situation means RLGC’s premier competition is likely to feature seven teams following runners-up Tweed Heads’ withdrawal to focus on being a representative club for the region at Intrust Super Cup and under-20 level.

Helensvale was the other major contender to fill the eighth slot but decided not to submit an application and instead take an extra year to build an irresistible promotion case.