The dates for the St George Illawarra Dragons’ 2019 matches at Glen Willow Sporting Complex have been announced, as the NRL club enters the second year of its agreement to bring games to Mudgee.
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The Dragons will play the 36th annual Charity Shield against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday, March 2, and their Round 10 NRL Telstra Premiership game on Sunday, May 19. The opponent for Round 10 is yet to be determined and will be announced once the 2019 NRL Draw is released later this month.
Tickets go on sale in early November.
Mayor of Mid-Western Region, Des Kennedy, said the community is eager to welcome the NRL and Dragons back following successful games this year, which he said were “big economic boosters” and a way to put the area on visitors’ radars.
“It’s a great way to market your region, sporting events give people a reason to come across the mountains or from Newcastle, Canberra or Wollongong, to experience what we’ve got to offer in this fantastic region that we live in,” he said. “And once they’ve come here they always want to come back.
“The economic value of last year was about $1.7 million for the NRL game and about $1.5 million for the Charity Shield, so they’re big economic boosters to everyone in the region.
“It’s been a great fit for us, the Mudgee Dragons are our team who play in the red and white, so we welcome St George Illawarra and this is the second year of having their NRL comp game here and hopefully negotiations with [Dragons chairman] Brian Johnston can stitch it up for a few more years as well.”
Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Adam Marshall, was also on hand at the announcement and added, “we’re looking forward to a bumper crowd, a sellout, this facility is magnificent and Mudgee and the whole region here has shown itself to be massive supporters of all of the major sporting events, particularly Rugby League”.
“This is one of four NRL fixtures which will be played in regional NSW next year, the other locations being Wagga, Bathurst and Tamworth, and they’ll be played at various times throughout next season,” he said.
“These events are big economic drivers for local economies, you’ve got one match alone that could be worth $1.5-2 million and if you can string a few of those into country communities in consecutive years it makes a huge difference.”
