Read on for the latest news from around the grounds in Canberra sport. We've got Rugby Australia reaching out to the Brumbies and hoop dreams going on hold.
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Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh has turned to the ACT Brumbies to discuss where Stephen Larkham sits as officials search for a new Wallabies coach.
It's understood Waugh has had preliminary discussions with the Brumbies about the Wallabies' coaching situation, and what that would mean for Larkham, after Eddie Jones vacated his post after a tumultuous 10-month stint.
The early conversations are by no means an indication that Larkham is the front-runner for the role, or even a genuine candidate, but it does show Rugby Australia is looking at its options.
Some of the discussions centred around what would happen at Brumbies HQ if Larkham was to be the one to take on the Wallabies job - which was supposed to be Jones' until the end of the 2027 World Cup.
Jones' messy departure following the Wallabies' worst ever World Cup result has left RA scouring the market for new candidates.
Larkham and former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar have been brought up in discussions, as have Michael Cheika, Andy Friend and even Ian Foster.
McKellar seemed the heir apparent to Dave Rennie before he was axed as Wallabies coach at the beginning of the year, leading McKellar to pursue a deal with Leicester in England. An exit clause to coach Australia could open the door for the Super Rugby AU title-winning mentor to return to home soil.
RA is also in the market for a high performance director as the governing body edges towards a centralised model, with the hunt believed to be down to five candidates. But the word is David Nucifora, who has been so good in the Ireland system, isn't one of them yet.
STARLING'S CLEAN SWEEP
The moment charges against Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell were thrown out in court marked "another win for the good guys" and the next chapter of a "clean sweep".
So says Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling, who was assaulted by police officers at the Shady Palms restaurant at Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast in 2020.
"Congrats lads," Starling wrote in an Instagram story, "Another win for the good guys ... Clean sweep."
Dramatic footage of Mitchell and Wighton being arrested by police on a night out in Canberra has been released. You can analyse every available angle and still wonder how the scenario escalated the way it did.
Wighton complied with a direction to leave Fiction nightclub - and in all honesty, your columnist would be happy to leave that joint - before a minor scuffle with Mitchell saw officers race to the scene and pin the latter to the ground.
Mitchell is said to have feared for his life during the moments that followed. Sergeant David Power, one of nine ACT Policing officers on the scene, admitted he gave false evidence on day two of proceedings in court.
"What I saw appears to have not happened and my memory has failed me," Power said.
Wighton and Mitchell, who will link up at the South Sydney Rabbitohs next year, are the latest NRL stars to be involved in incidents where police were found to be in the wrong, following Starling and Curtis Scott - who was handcuffed, Tasered and capsicum-sprayed after falling asleep under a tree in Moore Park in 2020.
NBL ON HOLD
Plans for a Canberra Cannons revival could be on the backburner amid talk the Gold Coast has usurped the capital as the NBL's ideal home for an expansion team.
There are concerns the league won't look at Canberra as an expansion location for at least the next five years given the city is still without a premier indoor venue.
Remedial work at the AIS Arena moving at what Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has said is an "epically glacial pace", while the University of Canberra is still searching for funding to build a new venue on its Bruce campus.
The ACT government is set to take over operations at the AIS Arena, with Chief Minister Andrew Barr locked in ongoing talks with Perkins about the future of the AIS precinct.
Barr recently visited the United States to see "several cultural and live performance venues" on a fact-finding mission which was expected to cost about $55,000, igniting hope Canberra could see action on a new indoor venue.
Canberra is struggling to keep up with major arenas in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in the race to secure high-profile sporting events, with the work being done at the AIS Arena at the moment expected to bring it to the NBL's bare minimum standard.
TIME TO UPDATE THE BILLBOARD
The Canberra Capitals start their WNBL season on Sunday and anyone heading down Haydon Drive could be forgiven for thinking Marianna Tolo is leading the charge.
Tolo and former ACT Brumbies player Tom Cusack still hold pride of place on a University of Canberra billboard trumpeting the campus as the home to two of the city's major sporting teams.
The billboard was first unveiled in 2019 - but Tolo left the Capitals more than two years ago while Cusack hasn't laced up the boots in Super Rugby for just as long.
Cusack went public with his cancer battle last year which ultimately forced the former Brumbies vice-captain to retire from rugby and give up on his ambition of representing Australia in sevens at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Tolo was a centrepiece in Canberra's back-to-back WNBL championship wins but has spent the past two years playing basketball in Europe.
It may just be time for UC to update the billboard. Jade Melbourne seems a fitting replacement for Tolo right now. She is also the only Capital contracted beyond this season.
CENTRALISATION FEARS
Speak to enough people around Canberra rugby and you'll find there is a concern Rugby Australia's centralisation model could see the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds become the code's pin-up boys.
The Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels and Western Force would be left to fade away in the background.
The theory is a well-worn one throughout Super Rugby and is borne out of being the little brother. The Brumbies like to tap into the "rejects and misfits" theme to get pumped up.
So it's no surprise eyebrows raised when a Rugby Australia media release this week focused on NSW rather than the ACT ahead of the junior Super Rugby grand finals this weekend.
It sets the stage for the rivalry to filter into the under-19s category at Seiffert Oval on Sunday. Brumbies diehards have always had a chip on their shoulder and securing hosting rights for the junior final was seen as another shot across the bow at the bigger states.
The irony, of course, is that the final will still be played in NSW given Viking Park was unavailable and organisers had to move the game to Queanbeyan.
Centralisation conversations continue to bubble along in the background. It's unclear how junior pathways will be affected, but there has been talk of a national academy program being revived.
Either way, there was no malice in this latest iteration of the rivalry. Just some good, old-fashioned material for coaches to use to pump up their players. The ACT side has been the shock of the competition this year, unexpectedly charging in the finals ahead of Queensland.
And if the ACT-NSW rivalry in Super Rugby is anything to go by, it'll be a cracker of a final on the weekend. Spare a thought for Canberra junior and Brumbies prop Tom Ross, who grew up hating NSW despite his uncle Bradley Clyde being a Blues State of Origin star.
After ending his time at the Brumbies, the NSW Waratahs have swooped to sign him for next year. It won't be the same seeing the man affectionately known as "Big Red" in sky blue after the Waratahs confirmed his contract on Thursday. We're tipping he'll still back the ACT juniors this weekend, though.
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