ACT Brumbies sound the alarm of a new era for Super Rugby

Perhaps it was a warning shot to their Super Rugby AU rivals on the day the code launched a new era with the Nine Network and streaming service Stan.

Whip up any tagline you'd like to go with it: the ACT Brumbies will bring the heat in search of consecutive domestic titles and ultimately Trans-Tasman glory. They will set off alarm bells inside opposition camps this year.

Plenty among those opposition camps see the Brumbies as the team to beat yet each club holds high hopes about knocking the reigning champions off their perch.

"We've had a target on our back for a number of years really. If you go back over the past five or six years, the Brumbies have always been up there," Brumbies coach McKellar said.

MORE SPORT

"It's always tough to win any competition and Australian derbies are certainly hard to win. We know we've got to be on our game from one week to the next to improve on what we did last year.

"We certainly see improvement in what we did. Last year we started Super Rugby and played some really good footy, and then in different conditions over the winter months with the COVID break there, it brought us back to the field a little bit more.

"We're looking to get better. That's the challenge for any team in any competition, trying to repeat what you did in the previous year but get better. We know if we roll out what we did in 2020, we won't get the result we want.

"This year there is the added opportunity of the Trans-Tasman competition as well, which is something we're all looking forward to. We're back to that travel component, playing against international teams, it's exciting."

Exciting seems a fitting word for what is being hailed as the dawn of a new era for rugby in Australia with the 15-a-side code shifting to free-to-air television and a subscription streaming service.

Every Super Rugby game will be available on Stan Sport while a weekly Saturday night timeslot will be reserved for a game on the Nine Network.

Stan's add-on sport package will cost rugby fans $10 a month and encompass every match of the Super Rugby AU, Super Rugby Aotearoa and Trans-Tasman tournament, as well as internationals and a selection of club games.

Hosts Nick McArdle and Roz Kelly will spearhead the broadcast team alongside former Wallabies Tim Horan, Morgan Turinui, Drew Mitchell and Justin Harrison.

All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens and former dual-code international star Allana Ferguson will be on hand to break down games with commentators Sean Maloney and Andrew Swain leading the call team.

"I think it's definitely going to grow the game," Alaalatoa said.

"We all know, obviously with Channel Nine being free-to-air, it gives a lot more people the opportunity to watch the game.

"It has come at a very important time for us, not only here at the Brumbies, but for Australian rugby as a whole.

"As players, all we can do is continue to get on the field and put on a good brand of footy for those people to enjoy. We know Channel Nine already attracts a lot of viewers."

First comes the Brumbies' lone trial match before the season proper comes against the Western Force at Viking Park on Tuesday night.

Border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic saw the match shifted from Saturday to Tuesday, with Rugby Australia conceding they may have to relocate the Force to the east coast as they did last year if restrictions threaten to wreak havoc during the season.

"We came into reality when our first trial got cancelled and then we had to postpone the second trial. Luckily for us, we already know that feeling from last year and the boys know how to adapt," Alaalatoa said.

"That's the bonus from experiencing it last year, and we just have to know we have to always be prepared. I'm just hoping the game continues to go through next Tuesday.

"Obviously there has been a lot of chat about the Force boys, they've definitely recruited well. We know that's going to be a tough match and you couldn't ask for a better trial match, especially when you're playing them again in round one."