Australian Football League side Brisbane Lions are banking on a A$15M ($11.3M) "chunk of State Government funding" for sport from Monday's budget "to be warehoused for a new boutique stadium" for its AFL Women's team, according to Andrew Hamilton of the Brisbane COURIER-MAIL. The Lions also made a pitch to Federal Sports Minister Greg Hunt in Brisbane on Friday in the hope the Turnbull Government "would match any contributions made by the Palaszczuk Government." The Lions have commitments from Ipswich City Council for A$10M ($7.54M) and a "peppercorn lease from the Springfield Land Corporation for the block of land" to build a new training and administration base at Springfield. Although there is "no expectation of a direct budget allocation" toward the Lions being announced Monday, the club "is hopeful there is enough in the kitty for women’s sport for an election promise to be made" for AFLW in the coming months. The Lions could build a training base without the State Government’s contribution "but are unlikely to proceed" if they cannot house their women's team there (COURIER-MAIL, 6/12).
