CENTRAL Queensland's pitch for an NRL side is in flux after the State Government conceded that it cannot afford to fund new sports stadiums worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The CQ bid team is hoping to build a $140 million-$180 million fully-compliant NRL stadium in Rockhampton, but there is no direct stadium funding commitment from the Government in financially frugal times.
"As far as spending $200 million on a stadium, it's not going to happen as there is no money for that," new Sport Minister Steve Dickson told The Courier-Mail.
"The debt is immense, you have heard it from the Treasury, you have heard it from the Premier and you are going to hear it from every minister of this Government.
"We've also got the (2018) Commonwealth Games we've got to budget for and that is a big, big event."
However, CQ bid chief executive Denis Keeffe believes the Government will help to fund a Rockhampton stadium should the bid be successful.
"I think the stadium (funding) commitment is locked in stone ... we want to get this thing over the line," Keeffe said.
Meanwhile, North Queensland Cowboys say they will have no choice in the short term but to keep playing at their ageing Dairy Farmers Stadium.
The Cowboys are keen to build a new multi-sport stadium in Townsville but chief executive Peter Jourdain says there is little immediate hope of funding and the project may have to be put on the backburner.
"I understand the new State Government is looking at their finances and there may not be the dollars available to build stadiums right now," Jourdain said.
"But we still need to have a long-term plan, and when funds do become available in the future we do need a new stadium. We haven't set a timeframe for it but we do need to move at some stage - Dairy Farmers is an ageing facility."
Former premier Anna Bligh once vowed there would never be a drop-in cricket pitch at the Gabba while she was in office, and the Campbell Newman Government is likely to follow the same lead.
Drop-in pitches are favoured by AFL teams because they make the centre square softer, arguably creating less potential for injuries, but cricketers insist drop-in pitches make their game dour and boring.
With drop-in pitches believed to cost about $200,000 a year, it is improbable the new Government would agree to pay for them at a time when they are trying to reduce debt and streamline costs.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...and-nrl-bid-team/story-e6frep5x-1226360691007
What does that mean? Will Murphy try to privately fund the stadium?
