Billed as “taking rugby league into the next 100 years” when it opened five years ago, the National Rugby League’s A$20M League Central HQ is "at risk of being demolished," according to Dean Ritchie of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. There are reportedly plans to rebuild Allianz Stadium away from the existing field, meaning the homes of some of Sydney’s biggest sporting organizations "are in the path of the wrecking ball." Rugby league’s governing body and fellow Moore Park tenants the Sydney Roosters, Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, Sydney FC and NSW Waratahs, "will have to find temporary homes" while the A$700M ($539.3M) redevelopment takes place. It is due to start late next year. The NRL has been notified that its HQ "may have to be partly or totally demolished." It has "already drawn up plans to relocate" to Sydney Olympic Park, where the NSWRL moved permanently in '15, and return once the stadium is completed in '21. An NRL source said, "Moving is certainly an option." But the SCG Trust released a contrasting statement that said, "The NRL's headquarters, Rugby League Central, will not be demolished or partially knocked down as part of the development of a new Allianz Stadium." While the Roosters are also set to move, it will not "be that far." The club is in negotiations about moving its entire operations, potentially permanently, along Driver Ave to the Entertainment Quarter, owned by John Singleton and Gerry Harvey. The pair and investor Mark Carnegie bought the leasehold of the Entertainment Quarter in '14 for A$80M and "desperately want the Roosters as tenants" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 12/20).
