The state of the union: ACT Brumbies bosses open up on protecting Super Rugby, contracts and stability

When The Canberra Times sat down with Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson and chairman Matt Nobbs this week to pull back the curtain on the state of the game, they unearthed a few more.

In the second of a two-part series, Thomson and Nobbs turn their attention to the playing arena, World Cups, and a bid to protect the quality of the Super Rugby Pacific competition while Australian rugby slashes its own budgets and fights off raids from cashed-up overseas clubs.

The Brumbies are finding ways to cut costs to keep their heads above water as Rugby Australia prepares to slice funding by 30 per cent, but the club's playing budget will remain the same heading into 2022.

MORE RUGBY UNION

"For a business already run on a very lean business model, it's been a massive challenge," Thomson said. "We're constantly reviewing our budget on a daily basis and where we can save money. It's not a good or a healthy way to operate a business but that's the way we have to at the moment."

Nobbs said: "We'd be reluctant to take away from the high performance part of the business, because when you talk about assets, that's our asset really. The performance of those guys are what we cash in on as far as sponsorship."

Thomson said: "If we start dabbling with that, we're dabbling with our product. Community rugby is very important to us, but the flagship everyone looks at is the team's performance on the field. If we cut that by $1.6 million, then you have an underperforming team. There's a massive flow-on effect with your sponsors, your members, your attendances."

Nobbs said: "Then you've got the talk. They're never going to get rid of the Waratahs and the Reds, but if push comes to shove and we're not performing and we're not financially viable, all of a sudden the finger is pointed at us."

Australian rugby clubs are at war with cashed-up overseas rivals ready to launch raids on the country's best talent. Capped Wallabies Noah Lolesio, Tom Banks, Darcy Swain, Nic White, Scott Sio, Pete Samu, Folau Fainga'a, James Slipper, Irae Simone, and Lachlan Lonergan all hit the market at the end of 2022. It should be noted many among them will have no desire to leave.

"It's a tough market at the moment with players getting some good offers from Japan and overseas," Thomson said.

"If you build an environment where people enjoy the experience, enjoy coming to work so to speak, and can see they're performing well in their work environment and getting the benefits of that, we'll retain more players than we lose."

Incoming coach Stephen Larkham, who takes the reins for 2023 and 2024, looms as a key weapon and "a big selling point" in the Brumbies' bid to retain their most promising talents.

Laurie Fisher will stay on to work under Larkham in 2023 while highly-rated Rod Seib could also be retained, giving players certainty about the future.

"The players can see where the organisation is heading and what they will achieve on the field," Thomson said.

"That's why we went through the process at the time we did and made the appointment prior to the 2022 season, so we had all this in place and we could have discussions with players with certainty. Now we're not saying mid-year 'we'll get to who is coaching at the end of the season and let you know later'. The players want to know."

Australia is poised to host the World Cup in 2027 but games in Canberra are no guarantee amid concern the ACT government will refuse to pay for marquee sporting content. But Nobbs believes the legacy of a World Cup goes beyond a handful of football games in the city.

"It's going to obviously be massive. When you look at the impact the last World Cup had, not only financially but participation-wise, it would be a massive shot in the arm for the code," Nobbs said.

"Your next question is going to be 'are we going to get a game in Canberra?' Obviously there would be a massive benefit to not only Canberra but the region. What that brings I don't think you could measure. Financially, that's the sort of shot in the arm the region would benefit from.

"Is the ACT government prepared to pay the money? I don't know. It's an opportunity. We're about promoting the game, about promoting the sport in Canberra. It's an opportunity to get kids involved in the sport, to get kids to the games, and to realise how big an occasion a World Cup is.

"It's the third biggest sport in the world. For the capital of the country hosting it not to have any World Cup fixtures is disappointing."

It's one of the game's most pressing questions: just how much can we relax the Giteau Law, where players need to have amassed 60 Test caps and seven years playing in Australia to be selected while playing overseas, and still protect the quality of Super Rugby?

"The performance of the Wallabies is crucial. That's what rugby is judged on in Australia," Thomson said. "People that aren't the rugby punters but know a little bit about rugby think if the Wallabies are winning then rugby is going well. If the Wallabies aren't winning, then rugby is not going well. It's important the national team is performing well.

"You've got to get that balance between not diluting your own domestic competition but also ensuring your international team is performing. It's a hard one. What they do for the future is something the board will have to decide on pretty quickly because it will be part of discussions and contract negotiations with players if they feel they can go offshore and still get picked for Australia.

"I think there will be a quota of players per series allowed to be picked from overseas, not a carte blanche. It is important we protect our product for our fans and our broadcasters in Australia."

It's the question on everybody's lips when it comes to women's sport: how long until they will become full-time athletes?

Nobbs says "it's something we need to address at some point" as the Canberra Raiders push to launch an NRLW team in 2023, potentially setting up a battle for the region's best talent.

"I think the beauty of our Super W program is it's of a good quality and good standard. Dan Hawke is doing a really good job, the environment is really positive," Nobbs said.

"It's a hard one, because when you look at where we're positioned, it's very hard to compete with NSW and Queensland from a playing perspective because of sheer weight of numbers. We're beating the Rebels and we pushed the NSW team this year.

"As long as we've got a good positive environment to develop, that's a start. We're going to have to address it, especially with the Raiders entering a team [in the NRLW] in 2023."

Thomson says Rugby Australia needs to be able to commercialise Super W more before players can be remunerated.

"It's probably a little way away at the moment. It has taken other sports who pay their players - whether it be cricket, basketball, soccer, those sort of sports - time," Thomson said.

"Women have been playing rugby for a long time but not at this increased intensity of the Super W competition. Until we can commercialise the product a little bit more and they can bring more money into the game, it's going to be a little while before they get the same sort of remuneration as the men's players."

So the attention turns to 2022. It's Dan McKellar's last year as head coach before he joins the Wallabies full-time, and the Brumbies want to send him out on top.

"I think it'll be an exciting year next year. Dan certainly wants to finish on a positive note," Thomson said. "He'll have the team well prepared. They've had a good pre-season under Laurie, Rod and [Dan Palmer]. They've worked hard. I'm looking forward to getting everyone on the paddock."

This is part two of our look at the Brumbies' future in The Canberra Times. Click here for part one.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: