THE BRISBANE Lions had their hands on the AFLW premiership trophy on Sunday only for it to be snatched from their grasp at their new Brighton Homes Arena in Springfield.
While it would have been a fairy tale opening for the side and its new $80m centre of excellence the story is still one of great success.
The club was sent into over-drive just a week ago when the girls won the right to host the grand final and the AFL backed them to launch their facility with the biggest game of the year.
Staff with the support of numerous local tradies fast tracked the stadium’s completion and when the gates were thrown open at 12 noon on Sunday everything was in place.
Long queues at the gates as the maximum allowed crowd of just under 8000 streamed in were efficiently handed and they were soon seated enjoying the pre-match entertainment from Delta
Goodrem.
The Lions’ experience at handling big crowds was on show and their staff swarmed the ground showcasing what will no doubt prove to be a popular venue to watch a game or a concert at.
The complex has been a long time coming and it is a great example of private business, local council and state and federal government’s working together.
Federal MP for Blair, Shayne Neumann, who fought hard to make the complex a reality, was at the ground on Sunday and reflected back to 2013 when he first announced a federal government grant of $15m to get the project going.
While that original money disappeared after an election loss by Labor all tiers of government later came together alongside Springfield City Group to fund the project which ranks as one of the best elite sporting team precincts ever built in Australia.
When the Qld Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, unveiled the stadium plaque on Sunday it was noted that Ipswich City Council was the first name on the list of supporters.
The council’s commitment so far has been $20m.
