Equex condition could end hope of NRL game

Talk of hosting a lucrative trial game between Canberra Raiders and Canterbury Bulldogs in February has reached a stalemate as the capacity of Equex Centre comes into question once more.

Speaking yesterday, Wagga Rugby League president Darryl Kelly admitted he was in the dark as far as plans to erect a hill were concerned.

Kelly insisted a hill would solve the capacity issue of Equex Centre, but he is unaware of the progress of the upgrade to be undertaken by Wagga City Council.

"We're still in the dark about it, we don't know where council is up to," he said.

"It's not necessarily a short-term project.

"You can't just build a hill on the flood plains so there are plans to go through.

"Until we talk it over with council we don't know what's going on."

Increasing the capacity of the ground would be crucial to securing the trial game, but Kelly insists the game could go ahead if plans to erect the hill should fall through.

"It depends on how much support and funding we can get from sponsors," he said.

"Obviously the more people we can get through the gates the more revenue we will get.

"We're still confident, it's only November and the game isn't scheduled until February.

"The hill itself isn't a huge job, it might not be fully irrigated at the time but I'm reasonably confident it will go ahead."

Kelly said a meeting has been scheduled between WRL and council within the next week, which should clear up a number of issues.

"It's pretty much a numbers game, we need to work through the dollars and weigh it all up," he said.

"We understand that they're (council) doing their best to co-operate with us like they always have," he said.