DUBBO will play host to one of the biggest rugby league carnivals in Australia next year with the announcement the 2015 NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout will be played here next October. After three successive tournaments at Raymond Terrace the action will come to Caltex Park after the Walgett Aboriginal Connection (WAC) won this year's event and were awarded hosting rights.
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Matt Rose, WAC captain and committee member, said a lot of work went into the host selection process, with Bathurst, Wagga and Albury other contenders, but was confident the facilities at Dubbo would provide another top quality tournament.
"We're really excited to announce Dubbo as the host city in 2015, we've worked really hard over the last month to find the right location and Dubbo is the right place, we're looking for the whole city to get behind the event and support it," he said.
It is anticipated Dubbo will experience an influx of more than 15,000 people from October 2 to 5, generating millions for the local economy.
George Rose, the former Manly Sea Eagles cult hero and brother of Matt, was the 2014 Knockout Player of the Tournament and he is expected to be one of many former and current NRL stars to take part in the event at Dubbo.
"I'm really excited to be bringing it out to Dubbo. The facilities are unreal and I think it's going to be one of the biggest and best," he said.
"To us rugby league is more than a game, footy brings the community together. That's the greatest thing about the Knockout; it's a celebration of our culture. I hope the local businesses and people get behind us to ensure a successful event."
Mayor of Dubbo, Mathew Dickerson, said the announcement of Dubbo being the host of the event was further proof that the city is a more than capable host of hosting elite sporting events.
"Some people were critical of it (Caltex Park upgrades) at the time but we said once we had the ground at this level we'll be able to attract larger matches and the injection into the economy will be fantastic," he said.
"Already since we've had the ground we've had Country-City match, all the normal league and union of course now this tournament and one of the big attractions for this tournament was how good our ground is and the amount of grounds around the complex because they have got a lot of games to get through."
George Rose, Dragons back-rower Joel Thompson and former NRL player Rod Jensen were the big names in the Walgett side this year which defeated the Newcastle All Blacks 28-16 to claim the title.
It was the first Knockout win for WAC since they went back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 before Mindaribba (2011) and Newcastle Yowies (2012 and 2013) dominated the annual event.
This year's tournament gained much attention with an estimated 40,000 people going through the gates over the four days while it was also televised on SBS's NITV channel.
"It's definitely a mainstream and popular event," Matt Rose said.
"You get people from right across Australia tuning in to watch it on NITV and people can come down to watch some of the most exhilarating football you'll see probably in your whole lifetime
"You can see the new up and coming Greg Inglis and Nathan Merritt and a lot of NRL players usually come back and play in it as well so there's not many places where you can see 20 or 30 NRL players in a tournament."
It will mark the first time since 1999 that Dubbo has hosted the prestigious event with the only possible problem this time being accommodation, with everywhere in Dubbo and most surrounding areas being booked out within 24 hours of Dubbo being officially named as host.
"It's got a terrific history, it's run for 45 years so successfully and to start with about eight teams in 1971 and to then this year to have 120 teams in the men's, women's and kids competitions is great and we're hoping the event will be embraced by Dubbo." Matt Rose said.