Talking Footy

RUGBY league's growth in Queensland has the game's top administrator touting the likelihood of a fourth team in the Sunshine State.

NRL chief executive David Gallop last night revealed he had inspected the growth suburbs in Brisbane's southwest corridor extending to Ipswich and it remained "in the back of my mind" as a location for an NRL club.
The NRL's Brisbane, Gold Coast and North Queensland clubs rank first, second and third in home crowd figures in this year's competition, with all in the battle to make the finals next month.

Mr Gallop told The Courier-Mail that population growth and public support for league in Queensland meant the NRL might need to plan for a fourth team in the state within 10 years.

Top of Mr Gallop's list for expansion are the suburbs in southwest Brisbane including growth suburbs Springfield and Ripley, extending to Ipswich.

"One day another team in that growth corridor west of Brisbane would have to be a possibility," Mr Gallop said.

"There's huge growth in the west of Brisbane out towards Ipswich.

"Not within five years – closer to 10 – before you'd need to start planning for it. But it's a possibility at some point.

"The people keep turning up to our games in Queensland, whether it's club footy or rep footy."

Tonight's Cowboys-Broncos match in Townsville was yesterday announced as a sellout of all 26,500 tickets.

It follows a crowd of 48,621 for Suncorp Stadium's Broncos-Titans game last Friday night – two days after a sellout crowd of 52,469 for State of Origin III at Suncorp Stadium

The NRL's Brisbane, Gold Coast and North Queensland clubs rank first, second and third in home crowd figures in this year's competition