ANALYSIS
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Game plans? Forget it, they can wait. The new Super Rugby AU season is still three weeks away. What about the crowds? The ACT Brumbies are working with the ACT government to get them back into the stands by July 4.
And a mooted Brumbies-Rebels merger? Yep, we're talking about it again, but it makes as much sense now as it did when it was floated several years ago before officials realised how silly it would be. To be clear, it makes no sense, especially given Australian rugby has just lifted itself off the canvass, bloodied and bruised by off-field wars and financial woes. Telling two teams based 500 kilometres apart to merge could be the knockout blow.
Rugby Australia officials, including new chairman Hamish McLennan, have detailed several scenarios for trans-Tasman competitions for 2021 and beyond, but they are no closer to a competition structure or deciding how many teams will be involved.
Sources have said, though, New Zealand rugby supremos have research showing the Brumbies are the most recognised Australian team across the Tasman, which will carry plenty of weight if it comes to slashing teams given 750,000 viewers tuned into Super Rugby Aotearoa games last weekend.
The prospect of cutting a team is very real again just three years after the pain for the Western Force's demise. The question about Australia's ability to sustain five teams has quite rightly been raised given the code was on the verge of financial ruin this year.
But the notion of a Brumbies-Melbourne merger has become tired, and not just because of the geographical separation. "It defies logic," one official said.
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To dismiss it without a thought, however, would be negligent as Australian rugby attempts to navigate its ways through the murky Super Rugby waters. The game can't go back to what it was, it has to move forward if it wants to win back fans, television audiences and sponsors.
The lack of a broadcast deal beyond this year has created more uncertainty. Before a game has been played in the domestic Australian competition we're already talking about happens next. Will the Super Rugby AU season, where the Brumbies and Rebels meet in round one, be a fight for survival?
The NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds are safe and the Western Force have billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, which leaves the Brumbies and the Rebels. Merging them would be cutting off your nose to spite your face, hardly productive given rugby's plight.
Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson said: "There have been no discussions or indications that [a merger] is remotely a chance. And we don't believe there's any chance of this happening now or in the future."
That doesn't mean the Brumbies will sit by and watch. They'll remind McLennan of their value, which may be as simple as an updated version of the metrics Rugby Australia used to decide which team to cut in 2017, ultimately leading to the Force's demise. The Brumbies were at the top of most of the categories, which is why it became clear they had to stay.
The club's finances of the past three years also send a strong message. The Brumbies have recorded profits in 2017, 2018 and 2019 despite Super Rugby's decline. The Brumbies also still own their intellectual property, which gives them some solid ground to stand on.
What needs to happen now is for McLennan to make a swift decision. Rugby can't afford another drawn-out saga over the "will they or won't they" culling debate.
The coronavirus climate may make that difficult, given everything beyond this year is uncertain. But the players need clarity. The coaches. The chief executives. The club staff. Most importantly, the fans need clarity. They've been through this before and they don't want to face it again.
Dragging it on will be detrimental to all teams, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The Kiwi audience soaked up their return on the weekend - 750,000 on television and 63,000 in the stands for two games. Australian rugby's rise will be slower, any sort of rise will be good.
"I'm keen as," said rookie Noah Lolesio, whose enthusiasm for rugby is unaffected by the off-field drama. "There's only so much training you can do and I'm sure everyone's keen to rip in.
We really want to make our stamp on this comp and continue where we left off ... Seeing the crowds in New Zealand [last weekend], it shows rugby is alive and well."