The Gold Coast is looking to muscle in on Lang Parks monopoly over State Of Origin football by formulating a bid to host a State Of Origin game in 2017.
Heading into the 2018 Commonwealth games, Carrara Stadium, which currently holds 25,000, will have its capacity upgraded to 40,000 with the use of temporary seating.
Moving State Of Origin away from Lang Park will be a very touchy issue for Queensland supporters. Lang Park is hallowed turf. On top of that, Lang Park is the best Rugby League stadium in the world. I can not see Origin games being played anywhere else.
It is good that the Gold Coast is looking to capture big Rugby League events. You would hope that they would consider possibly hosting a Four Nations final or possibly even a World Cup semi final in coming years.
The Gold Coast is a strange football market. It is a growing area that should be fantastic to draw upon for any sport. The problem is, no sporting team put on the Gold Coast has ever really managed to draw decent crowds.
If the Gold Coast wants big events, Rugby League should maybe look at moving the NRL All Stars Game back there once they have the seating capacity for the event. Until then a lot of work needs to be done to get the Titans healthy again.
