North Ipswich Reserve
Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
North Ipswich Reserve, Ipswich, Australia — opened 1870, 545 rugby league games hosted, home of Ipswich Jets (Queensland Cup, since the 1980s).
Ground facts
| Opened | 1870 (1870 is the year of the earliest recorded match at the site (Ipswich Grammar School v the newly formed Ipswich Football Club, a rugby fixture) per Wikipedia; rugby league specifically was not played until decades later, following the code's 1908 formation in Australia — the ground's first rugby league (QRL) match found in Rugby League Project's results was 14 May 1910 (Ipswich v North Brisbane).) |
| Home club | Ipswich Jets (Queensland Cup, since the 1980s) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 545 |
| Top recorded crowd | 9,818 |
| Capacity | 5,500 |
| Surface | Grass |
| First rugby league match | 14 May 1910 — Ipswich v North Brisbane, 1910 QRL season, Round 1 (first rugby league match identified in sources found; the ground itself had hosted rugby/Australian rules since 1870) |
| Years used | 1910–2025 |
| Location | Ipswich, Queensland |
Name history
- North Ipswich Cricket Reserve — name adopted 1885
- North Ipswich Reserve — long-standing base name, still in general use
- Jets Oval / QLD Group Oval / Bendigo Bank Oval / North Ipswich Oval — various sponsor/informal names used at different times — exact date ranges for each not identified in sources found
Rugby league history
North Ipswich Reserve is one of Queensland rugby league's oldest surviving venues, having staged QRL premiership matches since the code's early years in the state. It was a regular stop for touring international sides in the code's formative decades: British/Northern Union touring teams played there in 1910, 1914, 1920, 1924, 1928 and 1932 (crowds of 2,000–5,000), and New Zealand touring sides visited in 1913, 1919 and 1925. The ground also has a deep multi-sport history predating rugby league — hosting Australian rules interstate matches from the 1890s through the 1920s, rugby union, and even international soccer fixtures against New Zealand (1922) and China (1923). In the modern era it has been the home of the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup since the competition's early years, hosted the 2013 Queensland Cup Grand Final, and has staged NRL pre-season trial matches periodically since the 2000s (2003, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2017), typically drawing crowds around 3,000. The venue was renovated in 2002 and remains active; a further redevelopment proposal has been floated that would expand capacity well beyond its current 5,500.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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