Beers and burgers as Canberra Raiders say farewell and close doors

Raiders chief executive Don Furner then shared a beer and a burger with his staff before they all embarked on their uncertain future.

Furner announced on Thursday they're all either on annual leave or unpaid leave, with the Raiders football department kept on until the end of April before facing the same fate.

When, or if, they'll return only the coronavirus pandemic knows.

The NRL season has been suspended indefinitely and might not resume again this year.

The players are locked in discussions with the NRL to decide how big a paycut they'll have to take.

Furner only opened the Raiders' new centre of excellence at Braddon three weeks ago and they finally completed the move from their old base at Bruce on Friday.

Then they closed the doors not knowing when they'll be reopened.

"We're just about to buy them some hamburgers and at 3pm we're going to shut up shop and have a beer with them and that's it. They walk out," Furner said.

"They've unpacked their desks. Literally started at 6.30am. Packed everything at Bruce, brought it all here. Unpacked it upstairs. They won't even spend a day at their desk.

"It's very, very tough to see because they were all excited about moving in here, about the fantastic facilities, about new offices in town, about being close to everything. But it's very hard to watch."

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Raiders legend Mal Meninga, who played in all three of the club's premierships, said it was the sad reality we were now living in.

The virus was affecting not just people's lives, but their livelihoods as well.

Jobs are being lost across the country as businesses close down and everyone is facing tighter and tighter restrictions on going outside.

Meninga hoped if everyone took heed of the authorities and did the right thing then not only could the players return to the field, but everyone could return to work.

"That's the new norm at the moment. There is some sacrifices have to be made at the moment. It's unfortunate," he said.

"It's not because of any inaction or any decisions that anyone's made in the game. It's just the reality of the world. It's a global crisis.

"Everyone's accepting of it. There's no blame game. Yes I understand it's going to create some angst and some challenges for everyone, but we're just a microcosm of the world and it's communities.

"If we keep a bit of hope and optimism, and we get through it all and if we do it all collectively. That's really important we make those decisions together.

"We abide by what's becoming law now of the way we live. We'll get back on the paddock sooner rather than later if we do the right thing. We'll get back to work if we do the right thing."