The slick set-up at Ballymore Stadium has fascinated young and old since the first stage of the precinct’s redevelopment was completed in 2023.
It was evident again this week in the eager faces of the Wynnum Bugs Under-10s and two vintage players who excelled when the ground was born in the late 1960s.
The Bugs were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the BMS National Rugby Training Centre.
Checking out the dressing rooms, the gym, the recovery facilities, the Murrayfield Room and historic photos on the walls gave them an exciting hint of where rugby can take them with training and working well together as a team.
The kids finished by running out onto the main field for a kick and pass.
Ballymore today operates with three top-class fields for the Queensland Reds men’s and women’s teams, the Next Gen Sevens program, the Buildcorp Reds Academy and Queensland age group teams.
On top of that, visiting teams use the facilities or hire them as the New Zealand Warriors did ahead of the NRL’s Magic Round.
It’s a far cry from when former Wallabies forward Hugh Rose played at the ground in its earliest days in the late 1960s when a temporary stand serviced one field.
Rose, 79, played for NSW on annual visits and was in the backrow for the Wallabies for the 1968 Test against the All Blacks, the first Test played at Ballymore.
Rose found his way to Queensland and is a past Principal of Toowoomba Grammar.
He was joined by Max Offner, the Dalby winger who made his debut on the wing for Queensland at Ballymore in 1968 against NSW.
The gym had one familiar face with a large photo of former Queensland captain Alec Evans commanding the room..
