Toowoomba annual NRL game bid backed by Brisbane Broncos football head Ben Ikin

He’s considered one of the smartest minds in footy and charged with returning the Broncos as a force. Now Brisbane football head Ben Ikin says he likes the idea of Toowoomba hosting more NRL matches.

Embargoed for Gold Coast Eye feature March 16

An annual Toowoomba game of elite rugby league earned the tick of approval by the Brisbane Broncos’ new head of football.

Rugby league identity and former NRL player Ben Ikin backed the concept, saying an area known as part of the sport’s heartland deserved regular interaction’s with the game’s top-grade competition.

Ikin, who took over as head of football from Peter Nolan earlier this year, said while the Broncos were hamstrung by its stadium commitments, he didn’t see why a deal couldn’t be arranged between the city, the NRL and a current club.

“There’s always more the NRL can do — there are 16 NRL clubs that all have commitments around games,” he said.

“I’ve found it’s always best for the game when you get out to country areas, because the fans are often volunteers who help out each week.

“If the game can get smarter and better at giving those people some of what we deliver, who wouldn’t support that?”

Ikin confirmed the Broncos were one of the clubs talking with the committee leading the bid for a new Intrust Super Cup team in Toowoomba.

The talks are part of the franchise’s desire to invest further into the western corridor outside Brisbane, with the Dolphins likely to snap up development pathways as the 17th NRL club.

But Ikin said any negotiations were still in their infancy.

“It’s all very early stages – the Broncos have had a presence in Toowoomba in the past,” he said.

“We want to make sure that what is rugby league heartland has a connection with an elite level of the game.”