Bond’s opener goes to Nerang
BOND University will take their Queensland Premier Rugby season-opener to Nerang as work continues on their flash new clubhouse.
Bond yesterday confirmed they would move their Round 1 match on March 24 against Wests from Robina to the home of Gold Coast District Rugby Union club the Bulls.
The Grant Andersoncoached squad has been training at Nerang and while their own field is playable, they saw it as a chance to connect with grassroots clubs.
Bond’s clubhouse will be ready in time for their planned launch on April 21 to coincide with their second home game of the season, director of rugby Luca Liussi said.
“What we want to do moving forward is take our trial games out to local clubs and potentially do a round game too,” Liussi told the Bulletin.
“And this year it has worked out with the traffic plan for Comm Games, it’s easier for Wests to come straight off the highway (to Nerang).
“It’s been a few things. It’s been our strategy, which is reconnecting back to the Gold Coast clubs where we can with our trials and our games.
“We could (play Wests at Bond), we could run it from the other side of the field but we just thought it was a good opportunity to give back to clubs.”
Liussi said Nerang had been approached with a view to boosting their coffers.
“We said if we come to you guys, you can take the bar and make a bit of money out of it,” Liussi added.
It will cap a huge day for the Bulls, who will host a junior carnival featuring 30 teams and 380 players from under-8s to under-12s on an adjacent field.
“We’ll have that many kids that it will be a packed house,” Nerang junior president Dion Lemming said.
Bond and the Bulls will be crossing their fingers for clear skies though, given the Pappas Way facility is prone to flooding, which has caused training to be cancelled recently.