Canberra Stadium set to be a quarter full for Canberra Raiders game

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr made the announcement on Monday - while also announcing the capital was closing its borders to Victorians.

But the ACT government is also easing restrictions, which means more fans can go to the Raiders game this weekend.

It also hopefully means more ACT Brumbies fans can attend their next home game which, because of a bye and then a couple of weeks on the road, isn't until August 1.

Barr said they were moving towards having 25 per cent of the seated capacity of Canberra Stadium - about 22,000 - with almost all of the stands opened up to fans.

On the weekend, virtually all of the fans were located on the eastern side of the ground.

That means nearly 6000 can watch the Green Machine-Storm clash after the crowd for the Raiders' gritty 22-16 victory over St George Illawarra on Friday night was capped at 1500.

Barr said ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman had been impressed with the protocols in place over the weekend.

"We want to be cautious here. We do recognise that the venue can accommodate more people with physical distancing and could do so safely," Barr said.

"And obviously there's demand ... but what we'll be working towards is around 25 per cent of seated capacity.

"It's around 6000, which is still not going to be what either the Raiders or Brumbies could draw to the ground in normal circumstances.

"So tickets will still be a little rare, but not quite as rare as they were on the weekend."

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Raiders chief executive Don Furner said it would be a massive boost for the players when they run out against the Storm, having spent five of the past six weeks travelling up and back to Sydney for games.

But Raiders fans will have to wait for Coleman to sign off on the eased restrictions before being able to purchase tickets - although they should be able to buy them on Tuesday.

"It's small steps and it's positive ... it's a really good step for us and our fans," Furner said.

"They love playing at home, they love playing in Canberra.

"It's coming into winter now so it's good to get visiting teams and try and get some of the home-ground advantage back that we lost a little of.

"We're very appreciative of the fact the NRL and the ACT government allowed us to come back here earlier.

"I think Canberra as a city has done everything right and certainly we have as a sport.

"Touch wood, we've got Melbourne, then we've got Souths in two or three weeks' time. Who knows there might be even more [fans then]."

Barr praised the NRL's protocols and said they were why the ACT government had no concerns about the Storm playing in Canberra despite the situation in Victoria.

The Storm relocated to the Sunshine Coast and left Victoria almost two weeks ago.

"They've moved out of Victoria ahead of theses circumstances and the bio-security regime the NRL put in place in order to enable their competition to restart does involve regular testing and quite a strict protocol in relation to the players," Barr said.

"They all know the implications for their competition if someone tested positive.

"The NRL have a really good regime in place. They worked this through very closely with public health officials in designing it.

"We can have confidence in the health validity of that regime provided it's stuck to and the players do the right thing."

But it looks like there won't be any crowds at Manuka Oval for at least a month, with Barr declaring it was unlikely for any AFL games to be played there except for a couple of GWS Giants fixtures.

He said they wouldn't be until at least the end of August, or early September.

If the current climate in Victoria continues, then those Giants games would need to be either against Victorian teams that hadn't returned to Melbourne yet or against WA, SA or Queensland teams.

"Given the delay in the season and the COVID-enforced break the opportunity to play games in Canberra would be at the back end of the football season," Barr said.

"Many months ago I spoke with [AFL chief executive] Gil McLachlan and [Giants boss] Dave Matthews and indicated what we would work towards was something in late August-early September.

"That's still what we're working towards. It will involve the Giants.

"If the current arrangements were in place that would involve either Victorian teams who can't go back to Melbourne or WA, SA, Queensland teams."

NRL ROUND NINE

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm.