Toowoomba goes footy mad as record crowd packs out NRL match at Clive Berghofer Stadium

Toowoomba promised the NRL if it brought a match to the city, it would provide the atmosphere — and didn’t we deliver. A record crowd turned out to see the Roosters beat the Dragons.

At just 10 weeks old, Alfred “Freddie” Henry won’t remember much of Sunday’s NRL game.

The opportunity to take young “Freddie”, nicknamed after Roosters legend Brad “Freddie” Fittler, to the game was impossible to pass up for parents Jordan and Rachael.

“Who knows what the future holds,” Jordan Henry said.

“We may never get this opportunity again.

“To see them (the Roosters) up close in Toowoomba is amazing.

“As soon as I was old enough to understand it all, I was a Roosters supporter.

“And I signed up Alfred as a Baby Roosters member the day after he was born.”

Roosters members Jordan and Rachael Henry including newest member baby Alfred as the Dragons take on Roosters in Toowoomba's NRL round at Clive Berghofer Stadium, Sunday, August 22, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Alfred Henry would easily be the youngest fan among the 7800-plus plus crowd at Clive Berghofer Stadium – all of whom who were captivated by the action on field.

The crowd was easily larger than the 7300 that came for the Dragons-Titans match in 2018.

The NRL fixture was also special for Dragons fan Rhiannon Beer, who would often train and play on Clive Berghofer Stadium for school sport.

She said it was amazing to watch her footy heroes like Matt Dufty running on the same patch of turf.

“I was very excited because I love the Dragons, I’ve been supporting them for ages, and I was really excited to come see them,” she said.

“For the past few years I’ve been into rugby league, and I play it.

“We used to train here all the time for inter-school sport, and now I get to watch the Dragons here.”

Rhiannon (left) and Sarah Beer as Dragons take on Roosters in Toowoomba's NRL round at Clive Berghofer Stadium on Sunday. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The match was also a sweet reward for The Chronicle, which had pushed to bring the NRL to town with the “Give Us A Game” campaign.

Mayor Paul Antonio, who was in the crowd to watch a match he helped orchestrate with the help of others in the Toowoomba Regional Council, said it was thrilling to see thousands of residents brush off the Covid blues.

“The atmosphere is just fantastic,” he said.

“To see the number of people here and the number of people pouring in, it warms the heart.”

Hardly the end of a hard-fought campaign, Mr Antonio said the match was the start of a new one that could secure vital infrastructure and an annual game for Toowoomba.

Up the Roosters (from left) Dominic, Cooper, Jeremy and Sherree Cole as the Dragons take on Roosters in Toowoomba's NRL round at Clive Berghofer Stadium. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“I see the Sports Minister (Stirling Hinchliffe) is here today, and I’ll be speaking to him about what we would like,” he said.

“My overall position is I’ll be talking about our need to have a better stadium, not only for rugby league but all football codes.

“That’s the angle we’re taking – we want to make sure that they understand our needs.

“The NRL had tremendous respect for what Toowoomba has brought to rugby league historically, and I think we’ve got a good chance of getting a yearly game in Toowoomba.

“The positive attitude taken by the NRL, as well as The Chronicle’s campaign have played major factors.”