The nudge that could get the Cowboys NRLW team to Cairns
The ALP’s candidate for Leichhardt can expect a “polite little nudge” from a Cairns councillor this week, with the future of the region’s bid to relocate the Cowboys’ NRLW team to the Far North in jeopardy.
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The ALP’s candidate for Leichhardt can expect a “polite little nudge” from a Cairns councillor this week, with the future of the region’s bid to relocate the Cowboys’ NRLW team to the Far North in jeopardy.
LNP hopeful Jeremy Neal committed $15m towards building a high performance centre at Barlow Park in late March, with Labor’s Matt Smith still yet to match the election promise 25 days on.
The money is critical to the club’s big move with the Cowboys eager to set up a facility similar to its Townsville training base currently used by both its men’s and women’s programs.
So far, Mr Smith has yet to back the project, which is reliant on $15m from both the state and Commonwealth as well as $10m from the NRL powerhouse.
With “alternative options” having recently been put to the Cowboys, Division Eight councillor Rhonda Coghlan said a cheeky rib tickle may help get the candidate over the line.
“I like Matt and have known him for a long time,” Ms Coghlan said. “Next time I see him I am going to give Matt a polite nudge about it.”
The proud North Pride volunteer said the proposed centre of excellence would bring more than just the Cowboys to the city with other athletes and sport science professionals also gaining from having an elite facility in the Far North.
“This just fits with all of the council’s aspirations and vision for Cairns,” she said.
“It’s a huge uplift for Cairns’ sporting infrastructure and there will be many uses outside of the club itself.”
“If built, this will be fully utilised. There are people in Cairns putting up their hands already. It’s of the utmost importance for us to maintain the momentum right now.”
The council had already invested significant resources into ensuring the club could smoothly relocate 345km north up the Bruce Highway by 2027, Ms Coghlan said.
“Now is the time to ask,” the chair of the North Queensland Sports Foundation said.
“We’ll never be in a better position and there’s currently a huge shortfall of facilities of this kind in the city of this standard.
“Jeremy’s committed to it and I would love to see the ALP do the same. I’m confident they’re considering matching that due to its importance to the sporting community.”
Member for Cairns Michael Healy, who has been lobbying to establish the sporting centre of excellence in the Far North since 2017, called on all community leaders to back the project.
“No other city has our sporting infrastructure, world class accommodation and aviation connectivity,” Mr Healy said.
“I note some love turning up for the photo shoots, but now is the time we need strong advocates.”
Mr Smith said federal Labor had a strong track record of investing in the Far North.
“We’ve funded an extra $87.5m for the Cairns water security project,” he said.
“We’re delivering a second Medicare urgent care clinic for Cairns and investing $2m in preventative health in the Cape and investing another almost $30m for CQ University to train more people here at home.”
Originally published as The nudge that could get the Cowboys NRLW team to Cairns
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