A FIVE-year plan to boost rugby league in the Riverina will be presented to Wagga City Council today when NRL boss David Smith touches down for a whirlwind visit.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Meetings with Member for Riverina Michael McCormack and Wagga mayor Rod Kendall are on today’s agenda as Smith and his entourage present a plan for improvement to council for consideration.
Country Rugby League regional manager Dave Skinner has been working on the proactive plan, and yesterday outlined a strategy to get Wagga rugby league and the NRL on the same page.
“What’s going forward to council is a five-year plan on how we think we can improve things, so it’s not a new $11 million complex like the one at Mudgee but it’s about getting lots of little things tidied up that have needed to be looked at for a little bit of time,” he told The Daily Advertiser yesterday.
“We’ll present our five-year strategic plan to Wagga City Council and from there it will be a general discussion on how we best take that forward with council.
“I guess it’s about trying to build some kind of partnership more than anything else.
“We’ve had small talks and that’s all been positive but at this point we just need to hand over the final documents and discuss what we can bring to the table.”
Smith and his team will kick things off with McCormack at 10.30am, followed by a meeting with council at 11.30am when the plan will be handed over, while the afternoon has been set aside for discussions with Group Nine and Group 20 officials.
Skinner said the meeting with McCormack is about engaging the federal government in a plan for more funding for Wagga’s sporting landscape.
“That’s basically a meeting between the NRL and Wagga City Council talking about how the federal government might become more involved in funding for Wagga’s sporting precinct.
“We’re trying to get the council a little bit more engaged with the federal government ... it’s about seeing where McCormack sits in terms of getting more funding for Wagga.
“Then we have meetings with Group Nine and Group 20; they’re all future direction meetings to have a look at the direction they’re heading and get some feedback from Dave Smith, but also finding out the direction the NRL is heading and making sure it all fits.”
