Captain Apollo
Coach
- Messages
- 17,363
The Sharks had an $8m grant for a centre of excellence. Then it all went pear-shaped
Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta complained that every other NRL club had received government funding while his club got nothing. But that’s not the whole truth.www.smh.com.au
Text of that article -
The Sharks had an $8m grant for a centre of excellence. Then it all went pear-shaped
By Neil Breen
August 25, 2025 — 5.30am
In 2017, the Sharks struck it lucky.
Then-NSW sports minister Stuart Ayres granted the club $8 million in taxpayer funds for a centre of excellence at a crumbling Shark Park, as part of a $50 million round of handouts to seven NRL clubs and other sports.
The Sharks were delighted – in fact, they thought all their Christmases had come at once.
“In some exciting news, the Cronulla Sharks have been allocated an $8 million grant from the state government as a contribution towards the development of a centre of excellence,” an official club press release, issued on December 19, 2017, read.
“Planned as a multipurpose facility, the Sharks’ proposed centre of excellence is set to benefit the community and allow the club’s social contribution and impact to grow.”
Despite the undeniable fact the club was awarded money, chief executive Dino Mezzatesta appeared on NRL 360 on Fox League last week to cry poor.
It was an appearance that deeply angered the Minns government, landing his club at the bottom of the goodwill pile.
Mezzatesta was responding to this masthead’s story a fortnight ago that exposed the appalling condition of Shark Park, showing it was the worst professional sporting ground in the country.
On NRL 360, he said: “We are the only Sydney club that haven’t received any funding, and this is both from federal or state [governments].
“If you look at our code, there have been 14 clubs out of 16 that have received centre of excellence money to the tune of $250 million from federal and state. As a comparison, AFL has been given $450 million.
“Yet again, we’ve been given zero dollars, and now they’ve got stadia improvements. We know Penrith go into a really new stadium, Parramatta are in CommBank, the Roosters play out of Allianz and Manly got some money for the stadium upgrade. The Tigers are now going to get some money [for Leichhardt Oval] because of the Prime Minister [Anthony] Albanese.
“What we need is recognition that we are no different to anyone else playing in the code, and we also should be given the privilege and the benefit of improving our facilities.
“We wanted to build a centre of excellence, we wanted to upgrade our stadium, and we could do them both.”
The truth is this. In December 2017, under minister Ayres, grants of varying amounts were handed to the Sharks, Bulldogs, Wests Tigers, Souths, Manly, Roosters and Knights.
Other recipients were Sydney-based AFL teams the Swans and GWS Giants, A-League sides Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers, NSW Rugby Union for its Daceyville facility as well as netball, tennis and even surfing.
All the others now have centres of excellence – except the Bulldogs, whose facility is under way after the club was not ready to proceed after receiving just $4 million in 2017. The club received extra funding from then premier Dominic Perrottet in a second round of handouts in 2022 when they were ready to go.
The deal with all these grants was that state government money had to be “matched” by another source – either the federal government, local council, private benefactors or club money.
All recipients did this except for the Sharks.
For instance, South Sydney received an $8.7 million grant from the state government then matched the sum with a $10 million federal grant. They threw in $4 million of their own money, which was matched by the local council. They now train out of a $24 million centre of excellence at Heffron Park in Maroubra.
Let’s have a look at more of the 2017 Sharks press release: “The Sharks began the application process to obtain the funding allocation some 18 months ago, with today’s announcement a major step forward in allowing the club’s dream to become a reality.”
In the end, there was no dream and the reality is that Mezzatesta’s public statements that the club has “never received any funding” and “we’ve been given zero dollars” look a bit wobbly.
The club was given $8 million, but a previous Sharks administration flushed it down the portaloos that adorn the hill at Shark Park.
Even with then prime minister Scott Morrison as their No.1 ticket holder, they couldn’t match the grant.
Former state government sources speaking on the condition of anonymity because they did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly say the Sharks were unable to present a coherent plan to the government and, four years later, in 2021, the $8 million offer was withdrawn.
Mezzatesta stands by what he said on NRL 360 – that the club never received any government funding, which is technically correct.
But, for that, they only have themselves to blame, considering the success of all other recipients.
Mezzatesta says the fault lies with the federal government. When the state grant was awarded, Morrison – their No.1 fan – was the federal treasurer. When it was taken away, he was prime minister.
“We were promised $15 million from the federal government, and it never came good, and that brought the whole thing down,” Mezzatesta said.
“We spent a truck load of money exploring a $23 million centre of excellence – $8 million from state and $15 million from federal. Eventually, the state office of sport said they’d waited too long, that the money was sitting there, and they reallocated it.”
Asked if the Sharks’ No.1 ticketholder had let the club down, Mezzatesta said: “I didn’t say that.”
The Sharks sold swaths of land around the club, which is now surrounded by apartment blocks, a hotel and a shopping centre, but have nothing to show for it. They’re about to borrow more than $35 million to rebuild their club, which has been shut for six years.
Yet when the government was throwing money around like confetti, the ball was dropped. They’re unlikely to be awarded a “six again”.
