THE Country Rugby League (CRL) has confirmed Dubbo as a possible venue for the 2015 Country-City fixture with reports Wagga's Equex Centre will not be ready in time for next year's match.
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After first hosting the fixture in 2006, Caltex Park played host to the match again in May and it was considered a huge success from all involved. With Wagga still reportedly waiting on a final grant to finish the upgrade of facilities at Equex Centre, Dubbo has been quick to throw it's hat in the ring as a possible replacement venue.
CRL chief executive Terry Quinn stated Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson had been in contact with NRL Football Manager Todd Greenberg to say Dubbo was ready to host the event while he also admitted the likes of Mudgee, Cessnock and Bathurst had also been in touch with the CRL to confirm their interest.
Despite Wagga being far from certain as the host, Quinn admitted he and the CRL were keen to see the match played there next year.
He will make a trip to Wagga in the coming weeks to cast his eye over proceedings and he admitted yesterday if Equex Centre isn't up to scratch then the CRL will be quick to name a replacement venue.
"I'll be going down there soon and if it's not looking good then we'll make a decision quickly," he said.
"We'll be heading down there to make sure it's right to go and we'll be going with Channel 9.
"A lot (of the facilities) are pre-made but they're just waiting on a grant and apparently no one has been told when it's going to happen so it's a slow process."
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As part of the hosting rights, the ground must include two coaches boxes, a video referee's box, a television broadcast box and a camera platform and Quinn admitted there were some concerns over the current facilities.
Greenberg made a trip to Wagga in March of this year and was blunt in his assessment of the venue at that time.
"It's the simple things here (at Equex Centre) that are of concern.
"Broadcast facilities, coaches boxes, corporate facilities, media facilities and even the grandstand, which seats maybe three or four hundred compared to facilities that can seat a thousand.
"The reality is there are regional grounds with more advanced facilities which are what are required for the modern game."
The ground has undergone upgrades since then and Wagga council has never wavered from it's belief the venue will be hosting the match next year.
Group 11 president Ross McDermott confirmed his association would be keen to host the event again but was quick to point out there was nothing official yet.
"There had been some information that Wagga was struggling so we've been working with council a bit and Mayor Mathew Dickerson has been in contact with Todd Greenberg," he said.
"At this stage it's still at Wagga but we've made ourselves known that if the game is moved we'd be interested in filling the gap."
McDermott said Quinn and the CRL had praised Dubbo after this year's match and said he believed Caltex Park would be a logical choice if the game was to be moved.
In other news, McDermott also confirmed Dubbo was still pushing ahead with it's plans to host an NRL match in 2015.
Group 11 was in negotiations with the Manly Sea Eagles and despite that stalling in months McDermott hinted Todd Greenberg was keen to see more matches in country areas
"When the Mayor was speaking to Todd he also mentioned that and it's not dead and buried with Manly coming out," he said.
McDermott said Group 11 were keeping their options open and were hoping to organise a meeting with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the coming months as an alternative team to make the trip to Caltex Park.