Sunday Session: Which NRL club owns most expensive training facility
A surprising club tops the list when it comes to how much an NRL club spends on their centre of excellence. Sunday Session reveals how much teams have dished out on their training bases.
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High performance centres are the new arms race in the NRL. But the multi-million dollars spent does not always equate to results.
The Tigers have enjoyed their new Concord base costing the most in the NRL at a whopping $75 million. The Rabbitohs relocated to Maroubra in 2023 at a cost of $26 million. The Roosters - whose base is now in the new Allianz Stadium - only had to spend $13 million to fit out their state of the art training bases.
Some clubs have had high performance centres for almost a decade.
The Titans and the Panthers were the first two clubs to build fully fledged modern training facilities. And their results on the field couldn’t be more different. The Titans shelved out $24 million in 2016 while the Panthers cost three million less in the same year.
Recently retired international Aaron Woods experienced different types of training bases during his decorated 14-year career.
His first seven seasons in the top grade were at the Tigers whose facilities back then were severely outdated. He finished his career at Manly who have enjoyed a new training base at 4Pines Park whilst Woods’ other clubs – Canterbury, Cronulla and St George Illawarra – had differing standards.
“High performance centres are unreal for players but they don’t change your results,” Woods said. “It’s always about the hardwork and effort that the club and players put in – having a high performance centre is a luxury.
“It is also good when you bring in players who you want to sign when you show them what the facilities are like.”
The Eels plan to open their $53 million home base later this year while the Bulldogs and St George Illawarra are spending $60 million each on new training bases to be completed in 2026.
That leaves the Sharks, Dolphins, Storm and Warriors as the only teams without either a high performance centre completed or in the works.
The Dolphins have had some horrid luck in trying to get their base off the ground. Respective federal and state governments have gone to recent elections with the promise of helping fund the development with the plans already drawn up - only for those governments to lose at the poll booth.
The Queensland Labor government promised $10 million if they retained power at elections last October before they were defeated. The former Scott Morrison government also made a similar election promise before losing.
The Sharks have an ongoing battle with their home-ground in terms of training and game day facilities while the Storm are lobbying state and federal governments to fund a new high performance and administration centre at AAMI Park.
The Storm share with fellow football codes Melbourne Demons and Melbourne Victory but want an exclusive facility. Despite their on-field success their training base has been described as among the worst in the NRL.
The Dragons are set to usher in a modern era when they give their training methods a massive face-lift.
This is the first look inside St George Illawarra’s long-awaited high performance centre. Initial works will start shortly with the Dragons hopeful of moving into the state-of-the-art facility in early 2026.
It will mean the football department will shift their training away from their current Wollongong base at WIN Stadium to the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus.
For too long the Dragons have lagged behind the rest of the competition in terms of training facilities. This will change with the state of the art $60 million home training base.
St George Illawarra chief executive Ryan Webb said it was important to get the whole of the club – football and administration staff – under the one roof.
“It is very exciting that our community and high performance centre is now shovel-ready,” Webb said. “A lot of effort has gone into it and it is one of the most significant projects in the club’s history.
“This building not only revolutionises what happens on the field for our NRL and NRLW programs, but also drives great benefits off the field for our club and community.”
The battle has even gone across state lines. NSW have a newly minted $35 million rugby league hub where the Blues do some training out of but is home to the NSW pathway teams whilst Queensland have made a rugby league hub a priority as part of their infrastructure strategy.
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