Townsville powerhouses to take on Mackay’s best
Brothers and Norths Townsville will join the Rugby League Mackay and District competition this year, after a senior club vote on Tuesday went in favour of the Townsville season not going ahead.
“I don’t begrudge any of the clubs in Townsville. It’s their decision. But as president of Townsville Brothers, my people want to play rugby league,”
Whyte said. “It’s up to us to provide them with that opportunity and thankfully, the Mackay league has given us that opportunity.
“It’s great news all around. It’s great news for rugby league and great for our game.”
Whyte confirmed Brothers would field teams in A-grade, reserve grade, women’s and under-19s in the RLMD competition.
“Look, at the end of the day it’s exciting. It’s a huge challenge for us, as it would be for the Mackay clubs. (But) we’re really excited about the proposition. I can tell you my people are jumping out of their skin ready to play rugby league,” Whyte said.
The club and league have yet to settle on the logistics just yet – chiefly how many home games the Townsville clubs will have, and what travel and accommodation looks like.
“We’re accepting of the fact we’ll need to travel. It will be a challenge but at the end of the day, rugby league comes first,” Whyte said.
“My players will carpool, we’ll get a few buses … obviously there’s expenses aligned to that, but I’ll be clear on this - we’re looking at how we can do it, not how we can’t.”
TDRL chairman Ross Anderson gave his blessing to the two Townsville sides and welcomed senior football returning to the town, even under the RLMD banner.
“Footy is footy and we’re all footy tragics. The whole idea is we want to see football,” he said. “I wish everybody involved all the best.”
The reformatted Rugby League Mackay and District season will begin on August 1, with an eight-week regular season and a two-week finals series.