Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Brisbane Bombers

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Founded
  
2011

Competition
  
National Rugby League

CEO
  
Nicholas Livermore

Brisbane Bombers

Full name
  
Brisbane Bombers Rugby League Football Club Limited

Colours
  
Primary:      Navy Secondary:      Orange

Ground(s)
  
Suncorp Stadium (52,500)

The Brisbane Bombers are a proposed Australian professional rugby league football club to be based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 2011, the Bombers are seeking entry into and expanded National Rugby League (NRL) for the 2018 NRL premiership season.

Contents

The Chief Executive Officer is Nicholas Livermore and the Chairman is TOFS (The Outdoor Furniture Specialists) CEO Craig Davison.

The Advisory Board includes notable Brisbane business men and women including Jim Elder (Former Deputy Premier of QLD), Tony Bellas, Rob Ashley and Alex El-Shamy, amongst a total of ten (10) recognised men and women throughout the city,

The Bid has met several times with the National Rugby League administration including Shane Mattiske, Paul Kind, David Gallop and recently new additions to the future of the game including ARL Commission Chairman John Grant and Director of Football Todd Greenburg.

Channel 9 CEO David Gyngell has publicly stated the NRL's television rights would be more attractive if the competition included a second Brisbane based NRL side.

Former NRL CEO David Gallop was supportive of the Bid and now the team must impress the new CEO and ARL Commission to ensure a license is granted.

The Brisbane Bombers NRL Expansion Bid strategy is based on a "Battle for Brisbane", seeking to provide a push for a second Rugby League side in Brisbane, as well as a team to rival the Broncos in Australia’s 3rd largest city. The Brisbane Bombers have an agreement in place to play all home games at Suncorp Stadium. Former player Billy Moore is the bids main ambassador.

Rival bids include West Coast Pirates, Central Coast Bears, Western Corridor NRL bid, Central Queensland NRL bid, a Papua New Guinea Hunters bid and New Zealand bid.

Name and Emblem

After conducting market research, in March 2011, the bid group announced 15 shortlisted names fans could nominate via the bid website, along with colours and jersey designs, and the winning name would be announced via a radio sponsor. The shortlisted names were:

After 12,000 responses, on 14 July, the bid launched its brand at Albion Park, revealing the bid club's name, colours and logo.

Colours

The club has a jersey manufacture Agreement with New Zealand sports goods company Canterbury. The club's colours are to be navy blue and maroon (original Brisbane colours) with orange piping.

Ambassadors

The club has ambassadors to promote the message of 'bringing more League to Brisbane' and to ensure grass-roots clubs benefit from the bid. The ambassadors are Scott Sattler, BIlly Moore and David Solomona

Home Training Ground

As announced in 2013, the team will have an option to host its training base at a number of locations around the Brisbane Airport Complex precinct. Included in the list of options was Doomben Racecourse in Ascot, Brisbane which is owned by the Brisbane Racing Club as part of a billion-dollar revamp of the region between Brisbane Racing Club and Watpac. Included in the proposed development is a multimillion-dollar gymnasium, pool, track and field complex as well as multiple fields aimed for both professional and community use.

CEO Nicholas Livermore has announced that irrespective of the success of the NRL Bid, the development of the facility will commence by 2017 for a multi-use stand-alone facility.

Playing Arena

The Brisbane Bombers intend on playing all home games at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. It was speculated there was a number of options for a home base including Davies Park in South Brisbane, Dolphin Park, Redcliffe and two locations in Redlands.

Possible NRL players and coaching staff

It has been reported that the Brisbane Bombers have approached several current NRL players, including, Petero Civoniceva and Cooper Cronk about joining the club if it were to be successful in gaining an NRL licence. It has been noted that at brand launch in July, the bid had 18 letters of intent from current NRL players to join the club in 2013 should the bid be successful.

Former Broncos fullback Karmichael Hunt has also been identified as a target signing for the Brisbane bid. Queenslander and Gold Coast Titans prop David Shillington has an agreement with the Raiders that he can be released from his current contract to join the Bombers.

In addition to approaches to NRL players, Rugby Union players Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds) and former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and current Sydney Roosters second rower Sonny Bill Williams’s manager had been approached by the bid group about joining the club.

It has been speculated that several current and former NRL coaches may link to the team, including Ivan Henjak, Wayne Bennett and Mal Meninga.

Criticism

The mascot choice has caused some consternation, particularly from the AFL club Essendon Bombers, who have sought legal advice in regards to trademark infringement.

Sponsors

Several sponsors that have publicly backed the bid, including

  • Jersey Manufacturer – Classic
  • Beverage Sponsor – Bundaberg Rum
  • Radio Sponsor – B105.3 (Austereo)
  • Wagering Partner - Tabcorp
  • The Outdoor Furniture Specialists
  • Dynamic Sports Marketing
  • Junior Rugby League and beneficiaries include, The Sunshine Coast Rugby League, Redlands Rugby League and Jamaican Hurricanes Rugby League
  • Charity beneficiaries include, Junior Brisbane Rugby League Clubs, White Cloud, Mates 4 Mates and Wishlist
  • References

    Brisbane Bombers Wikipedia