'It would be good to have crowds': Govt to work with Brumbies on stadium opening

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says the government is hopeful a small crowd will be allowed to attend the first match against the Melbourne Rebels on July 4, with submissions to be made the Chief Health Officer.

The stadium was closed as part of the ACT non-essential business shutdown in March and is not scheduled to be reopened until July 7, three days after the Super Rugby AU launch.

But Barr expected an exemption to be given to the competition after a 12-week draw was published on Thursday. Asked if he was supportive of Super Rugby being played in Canberra, Barr said: "Yes, and if it's possible to get some crowds in there in a managed way, then we would strive to achieve that.

"Not just for the Brumbies, but for the Raiders [as well]. I need to set people's expectations, it's not going to be 10 or 20,000 people. But it would be good to have some crowd.

"There's work underway nationally on a safe stadiums policy. We should be able to manage something ... it might not be in place for round one, but we'll try."

The Brumbies will host three games in August in the five-team domestic competition, giving their fans a chilly end to the disrupted year after attending the first game in searing heat in January.

A two-week finals series will be held in September, with the top-ranked team to automatically qualify for a grand final and second and third to play-off for the right to join them.

The Brumbies restarted full contact training last week and will be back on to a level playing field with their Australian rivals despite their fast start in the first six weeks of the season.

"Everyone just wants to see rugby and sport back in their lives," McKellar said.

"Australian derbies, people want to see that. They'll certainly be played at a high intensity, there are Wallabies jerseys up for grabs ... if you can't get up for these games, you shouldn't be playing rugby professionally in Australia.

"People are talking about the footy. You've always got a silly season ... this is has just been an extended silly season. Thankfully it's nearly finished, let the footballers play and get on with it. There are good times ahead."

The competition is also expected to trial law variations, including limiting scrum resets and eliminating time wasting from the game to make it more viewer friendly.

McKellar has been working with Rugby Australia and other Super Rugby coaches to develop ideas to improve the game and he presented some of those to his Brumbies players to help them prepare for a domestic competition.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

"The No. 1 principle is that we don't lose the fabric of the game and that we're developing players for Test rugby," McKellar said.

The Brumbies had beaten the Waratahs, Reds and Rebels before the season was shutdown in March, making them the hot favourites for the new-look format.

But Scott Sio expects the chance to impress new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and get bragging rights to add extra spark to games.

Australian rugby has been dragged through the mud for almost three years, plagued by off-field issues and poor results on the field. Sio says now can be the time for change.

"We can use rugby as a catalyst to bring a bit of hope back to people. A lot of people get positive energy out of sport, that's what we need to recognise," Sio said.

"The domestic rivalry, bringing that tribalism back to rugby ... derbies week in, week out. It will have a club rugby feel in the games, I'm looking forward to it.

"Our fans have so much pride and so much passion for their teams and bragging rights, it's always been a big thing on weekends coming into work and being able to have little stabs at your mates.

"That's a constant thing week in, week out, knowing that there's another opportunity to maybe get one back up on your mate. I think it'll be pretty exciting for everyone and there'll be some good chat around that as the competition goes on and tends to heat up halfway through."

SUPER RUGBY AU DRAW

July 4: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels, 7.15pm

July 18: NSW Waratahs v ACT Brumbies at Sydney, 7.15pm

July 25: Western Force v ACT Brumbies at TBC

August 1: ACT Brumbies v Queensland Reds at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm

August 7: Melbourne Rebels v ACT Brumbies at Melbourne, 7.05pm

August 22: ACT Brumbies v NSW Waratahs at Canberra Stadium, 7.05pm

August 28: ACT Brumbies v Western Force at Canberra Stadium, 7.05pm

September 5: Queensland Reds v ACT Brumbies at Brisbane, 7.15pm

September 12: Qualifying final 2 v 3

September 19: Final 1 v winner of 2 v 3