Bundaberg gets first crack at Bulldogs tickets for Dolphins’ game

Bundaberg rugby league fans will be given first crack at grabbing tickets for the round 22 clash between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Redcliffe Dolphins at Salter Oval on July 30. Here is everything you need to know:

18/05/2023 - Then Bulldogs captain Josh Jackson signs autographs after last year’s game with the Cowboys at Salter Oval. Picture: NRL Photos

Bundaberg rugby league fans will be given first crack at grabbing tickets for the round 22 clash between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Redcliffe Dolphins at Salter Oval on Sunday, July 30.

The match will be the second game of a three-year deal following on from the success of last year’s clash between the Bulldogs and the Cowboys, which attracted a crowd of 8500.

Tickets for that match sold out within 48 hours, with some fans in the town and Wide Bay region missing out on tickets.

Bulldogs’ chief executive officer Aaron Warburton, speaking at Salter Oval on Thursday, May 18, said this year arrangements had been made to guarantee locals would not miss out on the NRL experience in their own backyard.

Warburton said the Bulldogs’ hierarchy had listened to fans and were bringing in grandstand seating in both the north and the south end, with the eastern grandstand being extended to more than 100m.

18/05/2023 - Bundaberg MP Tom Smith, Bulldogs director Andrew Gifford, Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton and Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey at Salter Oval on Thursday, May 18 to announce ticket plans for the round 22 clash with the Dolphins. Picture: Nicole Strathdee

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While the capacity was expected to be only 7500 for the Dolphins’ game, Warburton said the experience would be just as good as the 2022 show, with locals being offered a better deal.

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“We are offering fans in the city and region a Bundaberg membership which will be available for locals and will go on sale on Monday, May 29,” Warburton said.

“There will be membership categories across all the different categories of tickets.

“So whether you want to sit in the grandstand or want to be in one of the newly-created grandstands in the north south or the east side, there will be something for everyone.

“We just hope it will show how much Bundaberg means to us.

“We see so many similarities between Belmore (the Bulldogs’ home ground) and Bundy in the community involvement.

18/05/2023 - Then Bulldogs captain Josh Jackson signs autographs after last year’s game with the Cowboys at Salter Oval. Picture: NRL Photos

“We play 80 minutes of football. But it’s about the year that leads in to that and the year that follows and it won’t take long before we are back here for game three.”

Memberships will start from $70. They will give access to the match, and offer a range of additional benefits, including Bulldogs club merchandise.

Each Bundaberg member will also receive complimentary entries to win across a number of match-day experiences.

Warburton said, even though the game would be against a Queensland team in the Dolphins, the Bulldogs were looking to make Salter Oval a home away from home for the club and they would be bringing a staff of about 50 to the region both before and on game day.

“I do hear the Bundy Bulldogs every time I come up here and it has got a ring to it,” the Bulldogs CEO said.

“We are just so proud of this area.

“It took us 18 months to actually get the first game, so it wasn’t like we just turned up and said ‘we will play here’.

18/05/2023 - NSW State of Origin stars Josh Addo-Carr (front) and Matt Burton run out at Salter Oval last year. The pair could be back in Bundaberg with the Bulldogs in round 22 on July 30. Picture: NRL Photos

“We were talking with all the stakeholders; local businesses and schools.

“The council were absolutely amazing. (Bundaberg Mayor) Jack (Dempsey) and his team have welcomed us with open arms and it honestly wouldn’t be possible without their support.

“You can’t just walk in and expect to simulate the community like that.

“Since the second year has rolled around pretty quickly, we feel like we’ve done a pretty good job, but we have got a lot more to offer.”

Mr Dempsey said the Bulldogs’ commitment to Bundaberg was a great example of the NRL’s family values and that fitted in with the town, he said.

“Their commitment over the three years is outstanding because they see the opportunities not just on the sporting field, but the economic side of it,” Mr Dempsey said.

“We have 330,000 people across the Wide Bay with the largest population mass outside of southeast Queensland.

“Bundaberg is that centre for the Wide Bay. So here again, it’s an opportunity to get the Bulldogs here who understand that commitment.

“Now it’s about the community supporting that with bums on seat. So I encourage everybody to get out and support their local NRL team which is the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.”

Bundaberg Labor MP Tom Smith echoed those words, and said it was a great investment by the state government and the Bundaberg council.

He said the NRL coming back to the city would be another boost for the whole community, with last year’s game bringing some 2000 people from outside Bundaberg with an estimated $1 million generated for the region over the weekend.

“People didn’t just come down for the game,” Smith said.

“They stayed overnight. They experienced our restaurants, our parks, our clubs and all of our local businesses as well.

“So this is why governments invest in sport.

“This is why state governments teamed up with the council and with the NRL and the Bulldogs because it delivers financial gains for our community and it makes our economy stronger, especially as we are still recovering out of Covid-19.”

Smith said while the focus of the state government was improving the infrastructure of junior sport, senior sport was also important.

He said conversations were ongoing about bringing more competition to the Wide Bay, including an extension of the three-year deal with the Bulldogs.

“It's something that the mayor and I have had some secret talks about already,” he said.

“I have also raised it with our premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as well.

“It’s something that will be great for the community but we need to make sure that we get it right.

“It is a process and it’s about making sure that we are looking after junior sports first and then worrying about major competitions into the future.”

For more information about the Bundaberg Bulldogs membership release, head to https://www.bulldogs.com.au/membership/packages

Originally published as Bundaberg gets first crack at Bulldogs tickets for Dolphins’ game