Seven National Rugby League Clubs Allocated A$50M To Fund Centers Of Excellence

Hard "on the heels of committing" to spend A$2.3B ($1.8B) on Sydney stadiums, the NSW government allocated A$50M ($38.3M) for seven of the state's National Rugby League clubs to fund their centers of excellence, according to the AAP. Funding ranged from A$2M ($1.5M) to A$10M ($7.7M) for the clubs. The government said that it "redirected funds previously intended as cash payments" for NRL grand finals directly toward what it described as "community-based centres of excellence." Funding from the government "is expected to be matched dollar for dollar from NRL clubs and/or third parties." The biggest winners were Newcastle and Manly, which were set to be allocated A$10M. Other funding grants were: South Sydney (A$8.7M) ($6.7M), Cronulla (A$8M) ($6.1M), Sydney Roosters (A$5.76M) ($4.4M), Wests Tigers (A$5.5M) ($4.2M) and Canterbury (A$2M) ($1.5M) (AAP, 12/19).