Rugby Union in Queensland - Queensland Rugby Today

Queensland Rugby Today

Rugby union in QLD has seen extremely high growth since the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

There are now more than 50,000 players throughout Queensland, including 8,600 seniors, 23,000 regular school players (more than any other state) and over 14,000 junior club players.

There are 200 clubs throughout the state and more than 235 Queensland schools - with many non-traditional rugby schools adopting the code as well.

Rugby is held together by the strong and dedicated supporters. More than 8,000 volunteers work tirelessly weekly to support their clubs around the state.

Queensland Rugby has often been criticised in the recent past, with votes of no confidence against ARU director Gary Flowers being highly publicised. Organisationally, the union has developed a stronger administrative team to help develop all levels of the code throughout Queensland.

In 2006 Queensland Rugby invested almost $3.6m in Community Rugby (including almost $2.5m in ARU grant funding) and provided over $130,000 in complimentary Reds match tickets to schools and clubs.

Queensland Rugby in 2006 finished in debt and had to sack numerous employees to get their bank balance back on track.