Mackay Showgrounds
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Mackay Showgrounds, Mackay, Australia — opened unknown, 3 rugby league games hosted, home of none confirmed as an ongoing tenant — historically used for touring internationals, not a settled local club's home.
Sourcing caveat: Not to be confused with the newer, separate Stadium Mackay (opened 2011, current home of the Mackay Cutters), which is a different venue about 12,200 capacity. Mackay & District Rugby League's own club-grounds listing (via Wikipedia) does not include the Showgrounds among current local club home grounds, supporting that its rugby league significance is historical (1930s-1950s touring fixtures) rather than a modern venue.
Ground facts
| Opened | unknown (No source found gives a founding date for the showgrounds; the earliest recorded rugby league match (17 Jun 1936) shows the ground was already active by then, not that it opened then.) |
| Home club | none confirmed as an ongoing tenant — historically used for touring internationals, not a settled local club's home |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 3 |
| Top recorded crowd | 5,860 |
| Capacity | approximately 10,000, with around 1,000 seated in a rebuilt pavilion |
| Years used | 1936–1954 |
| Location | Mackay, Queensland |
Name history
Rugby league history
Mackay's showgrounds hosted three touring British/Great Britain sides against local representative opposition: England won 40-17 in 1936 and 94-0 in 1946, and Great Britain beat a Southern Districts side 28-7 in 1954 in front of 5,860 fans, the ground's largest recorded rugby league crowd. It later hosted NRL pre-season trials — including a reported 12,500 for a North Queensland Cowboys trial against South Sydney on 25 February 2006 — before elite fixtures moved to Stadium Mackay. It remains an active showgrounds venue for the annual Mackay Show.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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