Queensland celebrates as Broncos and Cowboys reach NRL Grand Final
Published Sunday, 27 September, 2015 at 01:02 PM
JOINT STATEMENT
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries and Minister for Sport and Racing
The Honourable Bill Byrne
Treasurer, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
The Honourable Curtis Pitt
Acting Premier Curtis Pitt today congratulated Queensland’s all-conquering rugby league teams.
“For the first time in NRL history we will see a Queensland only Grand Final as the North Queensland Cowboys go head to head with the Brisbane Broncos,” he said.
“After this year’s emphatic State of Origin decider, and the magnificent support shown by Broncos and Cowboys fans it should now be clear to the NRL that Queensland is the centre of gravity for the sport.
“Under these circumstances, staging a Grand Final in Queensland in future is something the sport’s administrators must be prepared to consider.
"The recognition of Queensland's importance to the game would be the primary outcome, but there's no doubt we would see an economic boost over Grand Final Week as a result of such a decision."
Minister for Sport Bill Byrne said the Queensland teams deserved all the accolades after dominating their opponents to secure their positions for Sunday’s big game.
“Friday night’s game at Suncorp was a packed house and it was great to hear commentator Ray Warren state that Suncorp Stadium is the best rugby league stadium in the world.
“I could not agree more and the Queensland Government will continue to invest in the capital works program at Suncorp to ensure it remains a state of the art stadium,” Minister Byrne said.
“What I am now looking forward to is seeing Queensland’s two NRL greats Johnathon Thurston and Justin Hodges go head-to-head as they lead their teams into Sunday night’s match."
Minister Byrne said he hoped his Federal counterparts could see the significance of next week’s Queensland only Grand Final.
“The Queensland Government has committed $100 million towards a new Stadium in Townsville and we have continued to lobby the Federal Government to also contribute," he said.
“Stadiums all across Queensland have historically been jointly funded by both the State and Federal governments and I don’t see the Townsville Stadium being any different.”