Locked in: Canberra Stadium the saviour for amateur soccer club

It can be revealed the O'Connor Knights are weighing up a list of venue options for their Australia Cup round of 32 battle against A-League Men's side the Macarthur Bulls next month.

Football Australia has locked in July 30 - a Tuesday night - as the date, but the time and location were unknown due a massive gap in Canberra facilities.

The lack of suitable mid-tier fields has forced the Knights to consider moving across the border to play at the newly developed Jerrabomberra complex, which has several fields and a capacity of about 1800. But after an evaluation, it now appears Canberra Stadium is the best venue for the game.

Knights president Steve Radic confirmed the move to Canberra Stadium on Friday. Kick-off will be at 7.30pm.

"We are delighted that we were able to come to an agreement with [Canberra] Stadium to use the facilities for our cup match," Radic said.

"With our home venue of O'Connor Enclosed unsuitable for the match, and a lack of viable options that were large enough to accommodate the crowd we are expecting in the area, we had to think creatively.

"[Canberra] Stadium is the perfect venue for a match of this magnitude. We are now calling on all football fans in the capital to get out to the stadium and get behind the match. We are excited abut it, and it should be an amazing occasion."

Knights assistant coach Nick Tither said location wouldn't matter given they play most matches away from their O'Connor based.

"It can be challenging to always go to different grounds for various reasons," Tither said.

"It's a shame there's not a default option in in Canberra for when this sort of thing comes around. There's certainly a lot of energy going into trying to source a venue as opposed to just focusing on the game.

"For us it's just about for now focusing on the [NPL] games we have. Preparing for our next opponent and making sure we;re as best as we can be because that will give us the best chance."

Deakin Stadium, McKellar Park, Viking Park and Seiffert Oval had been flagged as options, but Jerrabomberra and Canberra's biggest stadium were the clear leading contenders.

The issue is the venues need to meet certain requirements for A-League teams and for broadcasting, which includes lights of a certain quality.

Canberra Stadium is the only venue that ticks every box and it's understood Knights officials are working with venue staff to try to organise the best possible set up.

That would likely include having all fans on one side of the stadium to limit the costs and create the atmosphere which makes the Australia Cup such a great competition.

Deakin and McKellar are soccer strongholds, but it's unclear if the lighting available meets requirements for the broadcast. Seiffert Oval and Viking Park are a step up, but both host other sports which creates an issue with the quality of the field.

Whichever way you look at it, it highlights the mid-tier venue gap in the capital. The proposed $29 million Home of Football in Throsby would have been ideal for the Australia Cup. But ACT budget papers revealed this week the construction timeline has been pushed back to 2026 after initially being slated for a 2023 completition.

Melbourne Rebels players are starting to make their move a month after the club was axed from Super Rugby. The Brumbies, however, aren't expecting a plethora of players to bang down the door.

Rugby Australia is keen to build depth across all franchises and given the Brumbies have been the best performed, and have most of their roster locked up, Rebels players are being directed to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

There is good news, though. We hear Tuaina Taii Taulima - a versatile 193 centimetre beast - will join the Brumbies. Rob Leota and Taniela Tupou have been earmarked for the Waratahs, and Josh Canham - a player the Brumbies had their eye on - signed with the Reds this week.

The Canberra snub has nothing to do with the Brumbies' frosty relationship with Rugby Australia. In fact, the tension has thawed enough for the organisations to discuss working together if the Brumbies need financial help. That will likely be via a temporary loan, rather than a complete takeover, if a deal is done.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr set tongues wagging this week that hinted to a long-term vision for Canberra having its own AFL team.

Many believe the capital is the "logical" choice for AFL expansion to a 20th team given there's already a supporter base that sells out Manuka Oval and there's a new venue upgrade in the pipeline to increase capacity to about 20,000.

There's even a social media account - "Canberra AFL team" - which lobbies for the city to be included whenever expansion talks start to fire up.

And when you consider Canberra's growing population isn't that far behind Tasmania (about 100,000 or so) where the 19th AFL team is going, why not us?

Asked on ABC Canberra about the $2.85 million per year given to the GWS Giants and if it could be better spent, Barr said: "Ultimately the question is do we want AFL in Canberra or not? If we don't and that's a decision the Legislative Assembly makes, then we don't have AFL.

"But my view, and I think it's supported by the majority of Canberrans, is that all sports should be accessible as much as possible.

"So we do endeavour to work across all of the sports to provide support, either for local teams or where we don't have a local team playing in a national league where we can have games here ... we do that in Big Bash cricket for example.

"If we aspire longer term to have our own AFL team, I think it would send an appalling signal to rip up [the GWS] contract part-way through. The AFL would never come back to Canberra again."

It might be a little early to dream big, but hopefully AFL boss Andrew Dillon is taking note. Unfortunately it appears Darwin and Perth are ahead of the capital. The Giants deal in Canberra keeps them here until 2032 for men's and women's matches, but beyond that who knows.

The Canberra cycling community was devastated when the Snowy Classic was canned earlier this week, citing increased costs of road closures and police presence as the reason for ending the popular event.

"Another amazing event bites the dust. This is horrendous," one cyclist said.

It's a major blow for the massive cycling contingent in the capital, who saw the ride through the Snowy Mountains as a chance to push the limits and tackle the daunting Beloka section - a 300 metre climb over just 3 kilometres.

The event had been supported by the NSW government, but organisers said the costs became too prohibitive. The Bowral and Mudgee Classics, however, will still go ahead despite attracting the same NSW costs for road closures and police.

"It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of the 2025 Snowy Classic due to increasing operational costs," the organisers said.

"The Snowy Classic has become a popular event in the cycling calendar thanks to its stunning location set in the Snowy Mountains of NSW, and the opportunity to ride the region on fully closed roads. Unfortunately, the rising costs associated with hosting such an event have become unsustainable.

"This decision has not been made lightly and we would like to extend our deep gratitude to the riders, partners, stakeholders, amazing volunteers and Snowy Mountains community who supported the event."