sport, brumbies, brumbies, super rugby, university of canberra, nsw bushfires, canberra smoke

ACT Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson is working on contingencies for the opening three Super Rugby rounds if the smoke continues to linger in Canberra. The Brumbies have been forced to relocate to Newcastle to escape the smoke from the NSW bushfires, which World Cup-winning Wallaby Owen Finegan says could be the perfect preparation for the upcoming season. That season's meant to start at Canberra Stadium - for the Brumbies' first three games - against the Queensland Reds, Melbourne Rebels and Otago Highlanders. But with Canberra's air quality still affected by smoke from the south coast, Thomson has been liaising with Rugby Australia and SANZAAR about contingencies should it continue to be a problem. Given there's fires near Albury as well, their pre-season trial against the Melbourne Rebels could also be affected. That would be between the Brumbies and Rebels to decide what to do. "We've been speaking about this since before Christmas," Thomson said. "We're talking with Rugby Australia and SANZAAR and what the potential impact on round one, two and three. "We've got those three rounds at home so it might not only be January 31, it might be the two games after that also ... but it's too early to say what might happen." MORE CANBERRA SPORT Finegan said the 10-day camp in Newcastle gave his old club extra-time they wouldn't otherwise have to form valuable new combinations as the clock ticks down to the start of the Super Rugby season. The smoke and the University of Canberra's decision to close their campus for several days last week forced the Brumbies' hand. As an on-campus tenant, they couldn't use the university's gyms, fields and their administration couldn't even use their offices following last week's closure. So the Brumbies fled to Newcastle to prepare for their season opener. Finegan wasn't concerned about the Super Rugby club being at the mercy of UC and simply saw the camp as a massive positive. He recalled trips down to the NSW south coast during his career. "It's probably better for them I think. This time of year there's nothing like going on a little trip," Finegan said. "I see nothing but benefits from it - out of your normal routine and away from your family and friends. "They get a week in camp. I remember when we were playing, at the time we were sponsored by the Navy. "We used to go down there to Jervis Bay and train down there on the fields. "All the boys are together and you get a bit of time playing cards and mucking around and spending time with each other. "It's good for building the group, building the culture of the team and working hard together. It's probably a benefit." The camp will be especially useful for the Brumbies given it's a year of massive transition, with a raft of stars leaving the club at the end of last season. Finegan said they now had extra time to work on things like lineouts, scrums and backline moves - things that wouldn't have been possible back in Canberra. "It gives you a good opportunity to do extra learning with the team," he said. "It's not too often in Canberra they could say after dinner we want all the forwards and we're going to have an hour session on the whiteboard around lineouts or backline plays. "It gives them a good opportunity to bunker down a lot of the stuff they need to learn."

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