NRL

Concord Oval rebuild continues as updated images are revealed

Austadiums • Tuesday 7th September 2021
The new Wests Tigers Centre of Excellence at Concord Oval

The $75m rebuild of Concord Oval is taking shape as the new Wests Tigers headquarters are set to become one of Australia’s most expensive Centre of Excellence.

Updated architectural images have been released for the new facility, which is due for completion in February 2022.

Located in Sydney’s inner-west, the two-building sporting facility will cover 18,500 sqm for community and elite use, with 4500 sqm of space to be exclusively used by the Wests Tigers.

As well as being the new training and administration headquarters of the NRL club, it’ll also house the club’s NRLW team and continue to be the home of long-term Shute Shield tenants, West Harbour rugby union club.

Once a 18,000-capacity stadium built to host the 1987 Rugby World Cup and serve as the home of the NSW Waratahs, the two grandstands were demolished in mid-2020, with construction commencing in November that year.

Construction of the Centre of Excellence is well advanced, while the playing surface was removed last week and transported offsite, with work to remove the old irrigation system underway, before the surface is shaped to form a new profile, with Renworx undertaking the field work. The iconic tall rugby posts remain in place.

Funded by the federal and state governments, along City of Canada Bay Council, Wests Tigers players will get a state-of-the-art gym and external training terrace, aquatic recovery pools, sauna and steam room, sports science, medical, sleep and rehabilitation facilities, locker rooms and amenities for NRL and NRLW squads.

A player wellness hub including education and welfare offices, integrated learning spaces, classrooms and lecture facilities, administration offices, meeting rooms and media studio, merchandise store and a planned museum are also part of the new facilities.

While there will a recreation centre with health and fitness facilities and multipurpose indoor sports courts for community use.

With the venue to continue hosting matches, the new facility will include grandstand seating and match day facilities including change rooms, coaches boxes, public plaza, landscaping, cafe, community rooms and amenities.

NSW Sports Minister Natalie Ward said: “The NSW Government’s Centre of Excellence program is developing high performance facilities that are the envy of sporting administrations across the world”.

The redevelopment was originally worth $51 million, but that figure had increased to $75 million by the time construction had commenced.

It’s said to be one of the most expensive training headquarters in Australia, with only Fremantle Dockers’ $110m Cockburn ARC centre in Perth with a higher price tag. Manly’s High Performance Centre at Brookvale will cost $33m, Penrith’s $22m, Canberra’s $19m, Souths’ $58m, Brisbane’s $26m, Parramatta’s $40m and Newcastle’s $20m, while the NSWRL Centre of Excellence at Sydney Olympic Park cost $20m.

Concord Oval

More News

The $75m rebuild of Concord Oval is taking shape as the new Wests Tigers headquarters are set to become one of Australia’s most expensive Centre of Excellence.
The Austadiums website is made possible by displaying some advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker, whitelist us, or DONATE TO US