THE Queensland Rugby League is a month away from deciding whether to include a Townsville team in the 2015 Intrust Super Cup competition. With a team name and colours already settled and with their final submission to the QRL made, Brothers Leagues Club officials expect to a decision from the QRL before the 2014 ISC season opener on March 1. Given the considerable organisation and recruitment involved with creating an ISC team, Townsville bid leaders say they cannot afford to wait much longer for a decision to come from QRL headquarters. Much fanfare was given to the bid groups official launch early last year, but off-field hiccups combined with National Rugby League restructuring has seen the QRL postpone any decision regarding Townsvilles ISC team by six months. We really need something confirmed from them (the QRL) soon, Brothers Leagues Club chairman Gavin Lyons said. I dont we can do anything more than what weve already done, so now its just a matter of waiting. For 2015 we certainly need at least 12 months to have things in place, like finding coaches, players and other behind-the-scenes stuff. The Townsville team has already scored a recruitment boon in former Wynnum-Manly and Cowboys Under-20s hooker Nathan Norford, who has signed with Brothers for the 2014 Townsville and Districts Rugby League season. A host of other TDRL players will be in contention for Townsville ISC spots should QRL give a green light, along with fringe Cowboys NRL players. The Cowboys are strong supporters of Townsvilles ISC team, with club CEO Peter Jourdain a member of the bid groups steering committee. North Queenslands two other feeder clubs the Mackay Cutters and Northern Pride would still receive first-grade player allocations even with Townsvilles ISC inclusion. Were are in their (the QRLs) strategic plan for the statewide competition and our admission fits in with their strategic intent of including Townsville and Toowoomba, Lyons said. Obviously theres a little bit more to it than that and theres a lot of things to consider, because including another North Queensland team into the competition is expensive. But were still getting positive feedback and weve confident of being in the 2015 competition. The bid group said it would reveal its team colours and name once a QRL decision was made. In other local league news, a Northern Region conference featuring representatives from local clubs and divisions will still meet at the Mercure Inn today, depite Cyclone Dylans presence in the region. NRL head of football Todd Greenberg was scheduled to attend, but QRL northern region development manager Scott Nosworthy said his visit was now in doubt due to Cyclone Dylan.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 05:00:59 +0000
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