Dolphin Stadium (also known as Kayo Stadium and previously Moreton Daily Stadium under
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
) is a sports stadium in the suburb of
Kippa-Ring
Kippa-Ring is a suburb in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Kippa-Ring had a population of 9,790 people.
Geography
Kippa-Ring is located in the centre of the Redcliffe Peninsula, by road west of Redcliffe and by road ...
in the
Moreton Bay Region
The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shires ...
, north of the adjoining Brisbane metropolitan city,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia. It serves as the home ground for the
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
club in the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...
and also
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
soccer club
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat.
Brisba ...
.
The ground regularly hosts pre-season trials for the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
, and hosted the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Queensland Cup Grand Finals.
History
![dolphin2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Dolphin2.jpg)
The creation of field, formerly known as Dolphin Oval, began when the
Redcliffe City Council
The City of Redcliffe is a former local government area in South East Queensland, Australia. In 2008 it was amalgamated with the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture to create Moreton Bay Region. It is in the northern part of the County of St ...
made re-claimed land available for sporting fields in the 1970s. The
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...
, who at the time were based at the Redcliffe Showgrounds, showed immediate interest and applied for the maximum area available. Redcliffe City Council engineer Kevin Tibbets took to the construction of the ground with the utmost enthusiasm, with the football club even hosting a trip interstate for him to study playing arenas in New South Wales.
The transition from the Redcliffe Showgrounds to Dolphin Oval presented some major problems. Due to the isolation of the area at the time of construction, normal services were not readily available and therefore had to be brought in. Due to the gravity flow to Klingner Road, expensive sewerage pumps had to be brought in, power for the floodlights had to go underground to the main oval and the run-through tunnel was
transhipped
Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination.
One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...
from Western Australia at a cost of $9,000, which was still cheaper than buying one from the Eastern states.
The lighting at the showgrounds was far superior, but the Redcliffe Rugby League Old Boys, led by Neil Okamura, contributed a $5,000 loan, which was later turned into a grant, for suitable floodlighting. They also constructed a perimeter playing fence around the main oval at a cost of $2,780. In return, the football club provided the Old Boys with a solid can-booth at the northern end of the complex and were granted the rights to sell liquor on a commission basis.
The pressure to build a licensed club at Dolphin Oval was met with a great deal of caution, especially when the existing club at the Showgrounds was still profitable. But within 12 months after the sod-turning ceremony, the new clubhouse was opened by the Mayor of Redcliffe, Ald. Alf Charlish. With the help of the Federal Member for Petrie,
Dean Wells, and his Government's contribution through their C.E.P. Funding, along with the football club's own financial arrangements with the
Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
, the move was made possible.
However the heavily publicised and enforced "Don't Drink and Drive" policy by the Government struck the thriving bar trade, and, according to ''From Shellgrit to Dolphins'', a book on the History of the Redcliffe Dolphins, says: "Suffice to say the club only barely kept its doors open and its creditors at bay until the advent of poker machines in 1992, but proudly was able to meet its financial commitments".
In January 1979, the committee proposed to name the complex the Don McLennan Oval, but Mr McLennan requested that it be called Dolphin Oval.
Fittingly, the first game at Dolphin Oval was between
Redcliffe and
Norths, the club that originally proposed Redcliffe's admission into the BRL. The original lease was acquired to 1998 and later extended to 2008, before the Redcliffe Dolphins bought the land.
In June 2019,
A-Leagues football club
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat.
Brisba ...
announced it would move three of its home matches in the
2019–20 season to the venue. The club's women's team has played high-profile home matches at the venue.
In November 2019,
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat.
Brisba ...
played the first ever
A-League Men
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
game at the venue against
Melbourne City, attracting a sell-out crowd of 9387. The Roar came from behind to win 4-3.
In October 2020,
A-League Men
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
side
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat.
Brisba ...
announced it would move its home matches for the
2020–21 season to the venue.
During the
2021 NRL season, all teams moved temporarily to Queensland due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne. A round 20 match between
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...
and
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
and a round 21 match between
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...
and
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...
, played on consecutive Sundays, were scheduled to be played at the stadium. However due to a
snap lockdown, these were once again relocated to
Suncorp Stadium
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
. Subsequently, the stadium hosted its first NRL matches in round 22, when it hosted a double-header with
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
vs
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...
, followed by
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...
vs
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...
, on 15 August 2021.
In September 2021, the New Zealand Warriors confirmed that they'll use the stadium as a temporary home base for at least the first half of the
2022 NRL season due to uncertainties regarding quarantine free travel between Australia and New Zealand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 10 April 2022, the stadium hosted
2021 NRLW Grand Final between the
St George Illawarra Dragons
The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint- ...
and the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...
, the first NRLW Grand Final to be held outside of Sydney.
Redevelopment and renaming
The ground was redeveloped between 2015 and 2018 following announcement of the programme in 2014. After securing funding from
Moreton Bay Regional Council
The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shir ...
and the
Federal Government funding phase 1 of the redeveloped ground, Moreton Daily Stadium was opened. The second phase of work completed in February 2018. The third stage was completed in September 2020 with a new Northern Grandstand being built. On 7 December 2022, it was announced that Moreton Daily Stadium will now be known as Kayo Stadium.
References
Sources
* McLennan, Don, ''From Shellgrit to Dolphins: A History of the Redcliffe District Rugby League Football Club'', 1995, Peninsula Printers.
External links
*
Dolphin Oval at Rleague.com
{{A-League Women stadiums
Sports venues in Brisbane
Rugby league stadiums in Australia
Rugby union stadiums in Australia
Redcliffe Dolphins
1979 establishments in Australia
Sports venues completed in 1979
A-League Women stadiums
Buildings and structures in Moreton Bay Region