Toowoomba annual NRL trial match floated after sell out of Broncos-Titans clash

Why can’t Toowoomba host an annual NRL trial match? It’s a question plenty of residents are asking — and the evidence certainly stacks up.

The sight of packed hills at the Toowoomba Sports Ground (TSG) for Sunday’s NRL trial match begs the question — why can’t we have this every year?

More than 7000 locals sold out the city’s main stadium to watch the Brisbane Broncos thump the Gold Coast Titans, in a perfect display of Toowoomba’s passion for rugby league.

The figure is better than most crowds for matches in the Pre-Season Challenge, with teams the Cronulla Shark only attracting 1700 people to games at their own home stadiums in Sydney.

This difference in size has been reflected in match highlights, with the Broncos and Titans playing for fans all around the stadium while other games were played in front of empty seats.

As an added bonus, Toowoomba’s bars and pubs were filled with happy fans eager to keep the celebrations going.

Tamara and Mick Markey of Dalby with their kids Chase and Lexi at the NRL Pre-Season Challenge game between Broncos and Titans at Toowoomba Sports Ground, Sunday, February 16, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Bronco buzz didn’t start and end of game day either, thanks to the NRL glamour club bringing the entire squad up to Toowoomba for three days.

Stars like Reece Walsh, Pat Carrigan and Kotoni Staggs ran programs with at-risk youth on Friday, while the whole team held an open training session on Saturday.

It’s the first NRL action the Garden City has seen since a packed crowd filled the TSG in 2021 for the regular season game between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters, which was delivered with the help of advocacy from The Chronicle.

Now community leaders believe the city should advocate to make the event an annual fixture, either by securing a long-term agreement with one club or courting different teams every year.

Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce chief executive Todd Rohl said the game could be scheduled as part of a “Festival of Rugby League”, in a way to sell it to tourists.

“The Toowoomba Chamber is very supportive of making this an annual event, because we know what this does for the city businesses,” he said.

“From coffee shops to accommodation providers, everyone benefits from these events — it could be massive.

“We’d love to have more than one a year, but at the very least we need to make it an annual fixture.”

Groom MP Garth Hamilton said securing an annual NRL trial would be a “great opportunity”.

“There is competition for these days, but we’ve got a heap of teams — we’d still get a good turnout for the Dolphins or Canterbury-Bankstown,” he said.

“It was a great day, we’re a great rugby league town.”

Toowoomba councillor James O’Shea took to social media to praise the initiative, particularly the spread of activations between Friday and Sunday.

“Wouldn’t it be great to attract more big events to our region — this weekend proves there is an appetite from our community,” he wrote.