A Brisbane Broncos junior academy is close to being approved and could open by the start of next season.
It comes after Logan City Council decided to shift the academy to Crestmead from Waterford West, abandoning a plan announced in 2013 due to fears of a cost blowout caused by drainage problems.
The council-owned facility, worth more than $8 million, is now proposed beside the Logan Metro Sports Centre, which has been touted as a potential home for the new Southeast Queensland national women's basketball team.
The Broncos see the academy as a way to build its already strong supporter base in the region by involving large numbers of junior players, as opposed to an elite facility for a few hand-picked youngsters.
The centre is expected to be open to other clubs and the public when it is not being used by the Broncos.
Deputy Mayor Russell Lutton said the council had a memorandum of understanding with the Broncos with formal sponsorship and contracts to be agreed when the academy plans are approved.
The council last week voted to put together a high-level concept design but has confirmed it wanted an NRL-standard playing ground and four community-standard pitches.
Public seating is not part of the development, however Cr Lutton said the council was seeking federal government funding to build a 5000-seat grandstand.
"We're hoping to get NRL trial games, grand finals for the Brisbane rugby league competitions and A-League trial games. The [main] field will be that quality," he said.
"Our internal management group will now go back and do very detailed planning work to ensure that what we think we want at the site can actually be delivered."
One of the key figures in engineering the original academy plan, Cr Phil Pidgeon, hit out at the decision to shift the academy from the Waterford West area he represents.
"It was grossly unfair to use the excuse that there were drainage issues. The council was well aware of that and officers had a successful plan, which would have included two fields," he said.
"All I've ever asked for is somewhere kids in our area could kick a ball and somewhere a club could operate.
"The more kids we've got in sport, the less kids we've got into trouble."
