On Home Soil
Kangaroos Test and World Cup Venues in Australia

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

Australia v New Zealand at the Sydney Showground in 1908. The field, which still exists, is located within the Moore Park entertainment precinct (adjacent to the NRL offices).

Australia's choice of venue for Test match grounds has remained fairly stable for the most part of the game's history. Before the formation of the Australian Rugby League Board of Control in the 1920s the organisation of grounds for Tests fell to the state administrations.

Rugby League was initially denied access to the Sydney Cricket Ground - which was a concern to the NSWRL as this was the city's major enclosed facility (thus allowing an entry fee to be charged).

In Brisbane the major cricket and rugby union games of the very early 1900s were played on both the Brisbane Cricket Ground (better known as the 'Gabba) and the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. It appears that the preferred venue was the Exhibition Ground and that is where Australia played its first Brisbane rugby league Test in 1908.

In 1909 the Australian rugby league Test side played against New Zealand at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. Interestingly, Test cricket did not come to Brisbane at all until twenty years after the first rugby league test - and not to the 'Gabba cricket ground until 1931.

The 'Gabba management and the QRL were never able to fully reach a stable relationship over ground conditions and financial arrangements - the absence of test cricket contributing significantly to the ability to upgrade the 'Gabba.

As a result, rugby league Tests continued to be staged at both the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and the 'Gabba on and off for the next 50 years.

This situation eventually forged the impetus for the QRL to secure and develop its own ground in Brisbane. The ground was Lang Park and it held its first Australian Test match in 1962.

The Brisbane Cricket Ground (cricket and AFL) and the Brisbane Exhibition Ground (agricultural shows and speedway events) are both still in use today.

In Sydney the local rugby union authorities secured exclusive-rights agreements with the management of both the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Sydney Sports Ground, keeping rugby league off the ground. (Though Victorian rules and soccer were permitted to use the SCG when rugby union games were not played).

All initial Tests in Sydney were played at the Royal Agricultural Society's Showground - often referred to as the 'Agricultural Ground' or 'the Ag'.

The Showground was located adjacent to the SCG and Sydney Sports Ground within the Moore Park precinct. It had a number of fine grandstands and is fondly remembered by generations of Sydneysiders from its central use in the annual Royal Easter Show. In the 1970s it was also used for the first ever day-night cricket matches and Super Tests under World Series Cricket.

The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society had been particularly accommodating with hiring arrangements for the NSWRL all the way back to the 'All Golds' games of 1907. In the early years they even advertised upcoming games at the Showground for the League for free.

One Test match, in 1909, was taken to Wentworth Park on the western fringe of the Sydney CBD. Home to the Glebe club, Wentworth Park was one of the two grounds used on the opening day of the first ever Sydney rugby league competition (20 April 1908).

The NSWRL finally gained limited access to the SCG in 1911, and a representative match between NSW and New Zealand was held at the ground that season. Club matches took place from 1913, while Australia's first appearance was in 1914.

After deciding to split the Sydney match venues in both the 1914 and the 1920 Test series - perhaps out of loyalty to the RAS - the SCG finally became the permanent home of Test rugby league in 1924. It remained so until the opening of the Sydney Football Stadium in 1988 - the final SCG Test being held in 1986.

First grade rugby league matches have continued to be played on the SCG sporadically since the 1987 Grand Final. Wentworth Park remains in use as a greyhound racing track and is also the current training venue for the Sydney Roosters.

The last match at the RAS Showground was in April 1987 between Norths and St George before 24,000 fans. The Showground closed in the late 1990s as the Society moved to new grounds in the Olympic precinct at Homebush. The ground and some of the stands still exist as part of Moore Park (within what was formerly the Fox Studios complex), and the field itself remains open to the public. The current offices of the NRL are barely 'a short punt kick' away.

The Olympic Stadium at Homebush now hosts NRL and State of Origin games. In 1999 the Kangaroos became the first Australian sporting team to play at the Olympic Stadium.

During the 1990s Test matches, particularly against the smaller nations, were taken to regional NSW and Queensland, along with Melbourne. The 1991 Test match against New Zealand was held at Olympic Park which in became the home of the Melbourne Storm.

The 2004 ANZAC Test against New Zealand was taken to Newcastle, as the ARL feared poor crowds in the capital cities. However, the 2005 match was held at Brisbane's redeveloped Lang Park, and 40,317 attended. It was the largest home crowd since 1970 (42,807 v. GB at Lang Park) and largest home crowd against New Zealand since 1963 (45,567 at SCG).

The ARL again scheduled the 2006 "ANZAC" match at Lang Park, Brisbane. On the back of the Kiwis win in the 2005 Tri-Nations, a crowd of 44,191 attended. In October 2006 Melbourne hosted its first Kangaroos match in 14 years, with a promising crowd of 30,732 at the Docklands Stadium.

As part of the code's Centenary celebrations in 2009, Test match footy returned to the SCG for the first time since 1986. The Kangaroos and Kiwis played in the first ever night Test at the famous old ground with a crowd of 34,571.

Test & World Cup Grounds in Australia: 1908 - 2009 (as at 18 October 2009)