Toowoomba NRL game a huge win for business and rugby league fans

Massive economic boost and no Covid outbreaks proves Toowoomba NRL game was the right move for community.

Roosters forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves offloads a pass. Picture: Getty Images

THE CHRONICLE campaigned long and hard to bring the NRL to Toowoomba again.

We did so because we felt the community deserved the chance to see another game right here in our own backyard and for the most part our campaign was well supported.

Unfortunately, there was a small but vocal minority that tried to rally against the idea of rugby league’s elite coming to the Garden City.

They talked about needing to invest our money elsewhere and of course Covid.

Terms like “super spreader event” and phrases like “here comes Covid” were bandied about on Facebook and in other forums.

Now some three weeks later we could say “fortunately we got lucky”.

But I don’t think fortune has anything to do with the game’s success.

The NRL left nothing to chance when it made the decision to move the game north of the Tweed earlier this year.

The sole objective of the Project Apollo working group was to set in place health and biosecurity protocols designed to reduce the risk of infection for players, staff, officials and the community.

There’s a inherent risk in every major social gathering right now, but at the same time we are more than ever aware of the importance of reducing risk.

The Dragons vs Roosters was nothing but a massive success.

The region’s league community were able to enjoy a high quality NRL game, local businesses enjoyed a massive financial windfall and we didn’t “catch” Covid.