NRL clubs spending $252 million on centres of excellence
NRL clubs are leaving nothing to chance as they hunt for the edge over their rivals, with nine teams breaking the bank to build their own high-performance training facilities.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An NRL’s arms race is upon us, a high-performance revolution worth a quarter of a billion dollars.
The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal that construction will start next month on a Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence at Concord called Inner West Hub.
Canberra have also released images of their two-storey high-performance centre in Braddon, which is due to be completed in January.
Watch every KFC Big Bash League match LIVE or On-Demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14-day free trial >
Nine NRL clubs are fighting for high-performance superiority through Centres of Excellence which are worth a whopping combined total of $252 million.
They are Wests Tigers ($30 million), Canberra ($19 million), Cronulla ($23 million), Parramatta ($40 million), Manly ($33 million), South Sydney ($25 million), Sydney Roosters ($12 million), North Queensland ($40 million) and St George Illawarra ($30 million).
Sports science in rugby league will never be the same again.
“It becomes an arms race, you have to keep up,” Raiders chief executive Don Furner said.
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe outlined his club’s plans to build a Centre of Excellence on the Concord Oval site.
The Tigers will be housed in demountable buildings until the main complex is completed and opened at the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022.
“The proposed development is based on an exemplar model, bringing together elite sport, a community group with impeccable credentials in delivering facilities and programs to benefit the community and local government,” Pascoe said.
“The model delivers outstanding facilities, efficiencies across multiple users, a focus on sustainability, and commercial opportunities for the club which were previously out of reach.
“Inner West Central will be a hub of activity in the region, and a destination for elite sport, pathway sport and the community alike.
“The proposed design is future proofed and will allow the club to truly establish itself as a force in the NRL and affiliate competitions, on and off the field, including enhancing our contribution to the community.”
City of Canada Bay Mayor Angelo Tsirekas said: “The redevelopment of Concord Oval will mean our residents will have some of Sydney’s finest world-class sporting, recreation and community facilities at their doorstep.”
Canberra’s high-performance centre, which will house the NRL team, junior sides and the women’s team, will include cryotherapy and hydrotherapy recovery chambers.
“Players want to come here now,” Furner said. “I’m sure once we move into the Centre of Excellence, that will be a turning point in retention and recruitment.
“The facilities are first class. It will have a fantastic theatre, cryotherapy and hydrotherapy chambers, a gymnasium that is three-time bigger than the one we are leaving. The players will want for nothing.”
St George Illawarra are the only NRL club without immediate plans to build a high-performance centre.
The Dragons have earmarked up to $30 million to get one but plans are in their early stages and the design is yet to be determined.
Neighbours Cronulla have secured funding for a high-performance centre inside the Shark Park precinct in Woolooware.
To coincide with the club’s development of the adjacent car park and leagues club, the Sharks hope the construction of a Centre of Excellence will start early next year and be completed in time for the club’s return in 2022 from a two-year stint at Kogarah.
Sydney Roosters plan to include a high-performance centre in the revamped Sydney Football Stadium, their home ground. The premiers have secured funding for the complex but definitive plans have yet to be drawn up.
The Roosters’ facility will be cost effective due to it being inside the new stadium.
“We are in the final stages of finalising our Centre of Excellence composition in the Moore Park precinct in conjunction with the development of the new Sydney Football Stadium,” Roosters chief executive Joe Kelly said.
North Queensland will begin constructing a new high-performance facility early next year and hope to have it completed by 2021.
Built adjacent to the new North Queensland Stadium in the heart of Townsville, the complex will include sports science and medical labs, state-of-the-art gym and the club’s administration offices.
Manly will start construction on their Centre of Excellence at the northern end of Brookvale Oval next year.
It will include training, medical, rehabilitation and administration facilities, an elite gym, aquatic recovery and rehab pools, education and community rooms along with a 3000-seat undercover grandstand facing Brookvale Oval.
MORE NEWS
’Vindicated’: Folau breaks silence on settlement win
Arnold: ‘Why can’t Socceroos shock the world?’
Parramatta have announced details of a $40 million Centre of Excellence to be built at Kellyville in northwest Sydney.
The facility will have a 5000sq/m community and high-performance centre, a 1000-seat grandstand and be home to junior rugby league, touch football, league tag, the Canterbury Cup and women’s rugby league games.
To be completed by 2024, the Eels’ facility will comprise four rugby league fields and an elite, standard match venue.
Souths’ Centre of Excellence at Heffron Park, Maroubra, will house football and administration operations, a merchandise store, 120-seat classroom and Souths Cares, the club’s charity arm.
Penrith opened a $22 million Centre of Excellence in 2016, while Canterbury built their $9 million high-performance centre at Belmore Sports Ground in 2011.
Brisbane opened their $26 million facility early last year.
Originally published as NRL clubs spending $252 million on centres of excellence