'Lean' Brumbies hope to minimise financial challenges

The NSW Rugby Union was rocked on Tuesday when they announced major staffing changes, standing down the state's 12 development officers and reshuffling other areas to cope with financial reductions.

It is hoped Rugby Australia will be able to finalise a broadcast deal for 2021 and beyond in the coming months to give Australian teams clarity about the future on and off the field.

The Brumbies have managed to buck the trend of losing money, reporting profits in each of the past three seasons. That will change this year, largely attributed to the COVID-19 shutdown and a lack of fans at early games, but chief executive Phil Thomson hopes good decisions in the past bode well for the future.

"We're a pretty lean operation right through our community, administration and high-performance operations," Thomson said.

"We've been looking at things for a number of years and the fact we've been able to post modest profits over the past three years shows how fiscally responsible we've been.

"We've extended our staff on JobKeeper until the end of September, but they're in in various roles preparing for our first game."

Brumbies staff will work on reduced hours during the new domestic competition, which starts when the club hosts the Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

The Brumbies were flying on the field when the competition was stopped in March, stalling their hopes fans would jump on board the bandwagon.

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They will be allowed to have 1500 supporters in the stands for the first games, and that number could grow if ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman eases coronavirus restrictions.

Winger Andy Muirhead hopes the Brumbies can light up Canberra Stadium again, but admits they face a massive challenge against a star-studded Rebels side.

The Rebels boast international players in almost every back-line position, led by Matt To'omua, Dane Haylett-Petty and Muirhead's potential wing rival, Marika Koroibete.

"We've gained some unreal combinations after the last six months and I think we saw that starting to flourish towards the end of that first half of the year," Muirhead said.

"Hopefully we can [show that] on Saturday and perform well as a back-line unit. We speak [about the Rebels] about having a star-studded back line. It's a good challenge for us ... we like to think of ourselves as a dynamic back line so it's a good chance to see where we're at against a red-hot side in the Rebels."

SUPER RUGBY ROUND ONE

Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadum, 7.15pm