John Breen Park
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
John Breen Park, Mackay, Australia — opened 1940, 6 rugby league games hosted, home of North Queensland (Queensland Country representative side).
Sourcing caveat: The scoreline for the 1979 Lions match is unreliable across sources -- Rugby League Project records North Queensland 5, Great Britain 29, while repeated fetches of Wikipedia's own tour article returned three different, mutually inconsistent scores; only the 6,200 attendance figure held steady across sources and is published here. The 1986 Kiwis match score also shows a minor discrepancy (North Queensland conceding 4 per Rugby League Project vs 6 per Wikipedia prose). Attendance figures for four of the six matches (1982-1985) could not be found anywhere.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1940 (Opened in 1940 by the former Pioneer Shire Council as the North Mackay Recreation Reserve, later renamed John Breen Park -- no source explains who John Breen was or when the renaming took place. Historically also hosted greyhound racing, cycling, tennis, vigoro and cricket. Now a general recreation reserve with a disc golf course added in the 2020s; no current rugby league tenancy.) |
| Home club | North Queensland (Queensland Country representative side) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 6 |
| Top recorded crowd | 6,200 |
| Years used | 1979–1986 |
| Location | Mackay, Queensland |
Name history
- North Mackay Recreation Reserve — 1940-unknown
- John Breen Park — unknown-present
Rugby league history
All six recorded matches feature North Queensland as the home side, spanning a 1979 loss to the touring Great Britain Lions (6,200, the ground's top crowd, independently confirmed by Wikipedia), four Queensland State League fixtures across 1982-1985, and a 1986 loss to the touring New Zealand Kiwis. The ground served as North Queensland's representative home venue through this period.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Teams · Players