Dolphins NRL bid for centre of excellence

The Dolphins NRL club is looking for support from government to realise its vision for a centre of excellence, which would enable it to field an NRLW side and provide a facility offering allied health and education opportunities.

Dolphins NRL CEO Terry Reader says the three-level centre would be built on vacant land beside the training field at the northern end of the stadium.

The unisex facilities would include a gym, physio and treatment spaces, NRL and NRLW club office space, and one level of space to be leased.

“We’re working with UniSC on them taking up space there, as well as allied health and services that are relevant to the community and education that links to elite sport,” Terry says.

There would also be an indoor multipurpose basketball court.

“It will cost about $40 million to build, so we’ll need co-contributions from us, the State and Federal Governments to bring it to life,” Terry says.

“We can’t have an NRLW side until we have the building, so we can fit everyone in. We essentially don’t have room for our current set-up let alone adding another professional team in.”

Terry says the club is speaking with the Federal Government and Opposition and hopes both will commit to funding before the next Federal Election.

“Our goal is to get both sides of politics to support contributing to the building, so we can make NRLW a reality and the other community benefits in allied health,” he says.

“The centre will have a community focus as well. It’s not all about elite football. It’s about educational opportunities for kids with real-life experience.”

The Dolphins NRL club is working towards launching an NRLW team in 2028, if it can secure funding for the centre of excellence.

In the meantime, the club is building pathways for female players through its affiliation with Norths Devils Hostplus Cup club which has a team in the BMD Cup competition.

“The best girls go through to Norths. We’ve got our partnership with the (Central Queensland) Capras (Hostplus Cup club) and their program in Wide Bay but we’ve also started academies for elite players in CQ, Wide Bay, Moreton Bay and Brisbane as well. That’s set up and has been running this year … under the Dolphins NRL banner,” Terry explains.

“We’re doing everything we can in the background, building pathways. We understand all the work that we’re doing at the moment will benefit teams that have NRLW licenses already, but our goal is that we’re building this and developing pathways so when we do get given a license those girls will want to come back and play where they’re from and where they started.

“We think it’s an investment in the future for when we do get a license.”