Stadium a game-changer for local league

FORMER Burleigh Bears veteran and current Currumbin coach Ryan Gundry says the lure of playing in the proposed Gold Coast stadium could help keep local talent in rugby league.

Gundry, in his second season at Currumbin following an eight-year Queensland Cup career with the Bears, believes

players in Gold Coast representative teams would relish the chance to play in the shiny new facility.

“I think (the stadium) would be a fantastic idea,”

Gundry said.

“I was up at Runaway for the South Coast under-11 and 12 trials (yesterday) and something like that, if it’s central to everybody, it could hold all those type of things.

“We’ve got the under-11 South Coast carnival on the Gold Coast this year and there’s nothing more appealing than for a young kid to run out at a boutique stadium like that. It would also give us a centre point to play our local grand finals.”

Picture: MIKE BATTERHAM Sports Gold Coast chairman Geoff Smith (left) and Gold Coast United chairman Danny in Southport. The pair are behind a push for a boutique stadium on the Coast.