Ashwood Park received some high praise as the National Rugby Championship match to be played in Bathurst later this year was officially launched yesterday.
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The NSW Country Eagles will play the North Harbour Rays on October 17.
Orange and Dubbo were chosen as host cities for Eagles home games last year, and Bathurst was successful in earning hosting rights this year after the club called for nominations.
Other Eagles matches will be played in Tamworth and Newcastle and at Sydney’s Woollahra Oval.
Mayor Gary Rush said he was delighted to see the NRC join a long list of major additions to the local sporting calendar, including the current NRL deal with the Penrith Panthers.
“This arrangement is testament to the fact that we have some fantastic sport and recreation facilities in this area,” he said.
“It is great to know that decisions that were made a few years ago now to develop certain grounds and areas are paying dividends and we can have events like this one here in Bathurst.
“Most sports are pretty well catered for in this town, but Ashwood Park in particular is one of the best facilities we have.
“[Former Wallabies coach] Bob Dwyer a couple of years ago stated that a place like this would be the envy of any rugby union club. The clubhouse, the two fields, the seating – it is a fantastic venue.”
Cr Rush said the match would have flow-on effects.
“Like any of these events, it will attract people to the town who want to stay here for a while and spend money, so apart from the sporting context, it is great for the region in other areas,” he said.
Central West Rugby Union chief executive officer Peter Veenstra paid tribute to the Bathurst Bulldogs for making the original submission to host the match and said he has his fingers crossed it will be as strongly supported as some of last year’s games.
“The Orange match was especially successful. We had a good crowd, some great curtain-raisers before the main game, including a Barbarians match, and importantly the game against the Melbourne Rising, who feature a lot of Rebels Super 15 players, was very good,” he said.
“The publicity for the NRC will be even stronger again this year as the competition finds its feet.”
Representatives from the Eagles and their major partners Elders and Charles Sturt University were part of yesterday’s launch.
