However, TRC general manger Paul Bennett said if the club intended to take its regional NRL game to another city, it “wouldn’t be signing this contact with us, to deliver these social outcomes”.

“It’s pretty obvious that you can hold the game without doing this – but you can’t do this without holding the game,” Mr Bennett said.

“We want to build on the benefit the game brings. This is the value add to holding that major event.”

Councillors backed the decision at Tuesday night’s meeting, except Cr Jim Maxwell, who said there were “too many ands, ifs and buts”.

The total cost of the community partnership is $95,000, however council will seek the remaining amount from state government funding.

The Tigers’ community program covers a range of social issues, including mental health, Indigenous youth engagement and domestic violence – all of which had NSW government grants available, Mr Bennett said.

Meanwhile, the NRL and the NSW government have announced a four-game regional support package for the 2019 season.

Destination NSW will support the event packages, with a focus on marketing and driving tourism to the regional centres.

Wagga Wagga has already snagged one of the spots, and will host the Canberra Raiders next year. The future locations will be confirmed later this year.