The Country Rugby League has today made an impassioned defence of AAMI Country-City and the important role in plays in highlighting one of Rugby League’s most important development areas.
“We fought extremely hard to keep this game and the ARL Commission has supported us with a significant investment in helping stage the match,” CRL Chief Executive, Mr Terry Quinn, said today.
“At no stage has anyone approached this game as a money-making exercise.
“It was with the best of intentions that we invested in extra grandstand seating for the match but this impacted on the pricing structure and we all have to take some lessons from that.
“It would be a tragedy if people took this weekend’s crowd as a sign of the interest in Country-City.
“This match has an amazing impact in the regions we play in every year and you only have to look at the support it has generated over the past few seasons to understand how many people in the bush want to see this match played.
“We will be doing all we can to grow Country-City in the future and the NRL is extremely supportive of that.”
