Centre of Excellence a massive lift for NSW Rugby

The NSW State Government has pledged $20 million to develop a Centre of Excellence for NSW Rugby, giving the sport a massive boost as it tries to rebuild after years of struggling on and off the field. Take a look.

The NSW Waratahs will have a new Centre Of Excellence. Picture: AAP

Finally, NSW Rugby has got the cash together to build its dream home out in the suburbs.

Determined to go it alone and develop a facility that the entire rugby community can use — despite not having as much money as the other codes — the Waratahs are getting ready to make the giant leap from battling tenants to proud new homeowners thanks to a $20 million investment from the NSW government.

“This marks the dawning of a new era for rugby in the state,” NSW Rugby chief executive Andrew Hore told The Daily Telegraph.

“We’ve been working on this for a while now because we want to be a leader in the sports industry and now we can be with this facility.

“This is a massive boost for what we are trying to achieve and a great vote of confidence from the state government.”

For almost 20 years, NSW Rugby was based at Allianz Stadium, where it enjoyed state-of-the-art facilities but had to share them with rival football codes and had to pay hefty rent.

An artist’s impression of how the new NSW Rugby headquarters in Daceyville will appear.

So a year ago, NSW Rugby took the gamble and moved its headquarters to the relatively humble University of NSW fields in Daceyville, working from demountable buildings while patiently waiting for enough money to start constructing their permanent digs.

Now that day has arrived, with NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres to announce the government will fund the development of a Centre of Excellence that will cater for both high-performance and community rugby.

“This gives rugby a home it has not had for far too long, being bounced around various parts of Sydney,”Ayres told The Daily Telegraph.

“NSW Rugby has developed a very strong strategic plan, a strong focus on good quality programs. That’s the reason why the government can invest with confidence.”

An artist’s impression of how the new NSW Rugby headquarters in Daceyville will appear.

Work on the new Centre of Excellence will begin at the end of 2019.

The centre will include fields and gym facilities that will be used for everything from Waratahs’ training right down to junior school programs.

The facility will also house administration offices of NSW Rugby, the Waratahs, the NSW Positive Rugby Foundation and a charity hub, which are all part of plans to make the sport more inclusive and reconnect with the community.

“We knew we had to change on a number of fronts so we’re a sport that is going to go through a significant amount of change,” Hore said.

“We need to be more relevant to the Australian population and probably mirror that a lot more. We have to diversify and we have to be a lot more inclusive and this facility is a way to enable us and support us to do that.”

Originally published as Centre of Excellence a massive lift for NSW Rugby