Next year’s AAMI Country v City Origin clash will be played at the new Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct.
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Country Rugby League chief executive Terry Quinn, NSWRL chief executive David Trodden, NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg and Tamworth acting mayor Russell Webb yesterday officially announced the redeveloped $2.8million precinct in Tamworth as the venue for next May’s clash.
The new Scully Park precinct will be officially opened on Saturday when West Lions and Oxley Diggers play a Group 4 first grade match, the first game on the new ground.
A NSW Cup game between Manly-Warringah and North Sydney will follow as part of the NSWRL’s “country round”.
Quinn believes the new Scully Park is the perfect venue to host next year’s City-Country fixture.
“It’s great to see the finalisation of this development and the people of Tamworth can expect to see a state-of-the-art facility that is perfect for hosting elite level representative rugby league matches and perfect for television broadcasters and attendees of the Country v City Origin match,” he said.
“We had 9200 at Wagga this year – that was great.
“I don’t know the capacity of this new ground but I’d love it to be an all-ticketed affair (for the City-Country game),” he said.
After the sold-out success of the McDonald’s Park clash in Wagga this year, Greenberg was confident Tamworth would offer the same positive experience for rugby league fans across the north-west of the state.
“This is a marquee game for the NRL,” Greenberg said.
“We have a lot of players vying for spots in State Of Origin and Test teams playing in this game.”
He said there had been a revival in representative football this year.
“And it all started with the Country v City match,” he said.
“Not only was the venue at Wagga packed to capacity but the game was a wonderful advertisement for rugby league.”
“We know that the people of Tamworth are just as fanatical about their rugby league and we expect the 2016 Country v City match to be just as successful,” he said.
His side may be the visitors when they travel to the country each year, but Trodden believed the Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct was a venue the City Origin team would look forward to playing at next season.
“The Country v City Origin match is one of the highlights on the NSWRL calendar each year and I’m certain the players selected will be looking forward to enjoying the atmosphere at the new Scully Park in Tamworth,” Trodden said.
Webb believes hosting the 2016 Country v City match is something the people of Tamworth could be proud of.
“There’s been a lot of hard work put into the building of this venue,” Webb said.
“We are very grateful for the hard work that WestTamworth League Club, Tamworth Regional Council and members of our community have put into the new precinct and I’m excited for the people of Tamworth to show off their new facility on such a large scale.
“Hopefully this is just the beginning of many exciting things to come.”
West Tamworth League Club chief executive Rod Laing echoed Webb’s thoughts and believes a game of “this calibre will be a benefit to the entire region”.
The new Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct features a new 700-seat covered grandstand comprising two change rooms, ice baths, showers, toilets, medical and referees’ rooms, bar and kiosk facilities, five corporate suites, broadcast and media boxes and disabled seating capabilities.
