Tickets for Melbourne Rebels' round one Super Rugby Pacific match are finally ready to go on sale after Rugby Australia (RA) reached an agreement with the venue operators of AAMI Park.
The timeframe on a decision regarding the Rebels' longer-term future has meanwhile been formalised, with RA intending to make a decision it within the next six months.
"RA continues to engage with the administrator, government and various relevant stakeholders on the future of the Rebels beyond this season," RA said in a statement.
"It is expected that a decision on that future will be made before the end of Super Rugby Pacific."
The Rebels host the ACT Brumbies on Friday night but just days out fans had been unable to buy seats.
With the club in administration and carrying debts of more than $20 million, RA had to renegotiate with the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust (MOPT) - which oversees the ground - as well as caterers believed to be among the parties owed money.
RA has now confirmed the fixture will go ahead at AAMI Park, with tickets available to purchase from 3pm AEDT Monday.
"RA and MOPT have executed a new venue agreement for the remainder of 2024 - this agreement incorporates suppliers such as caterers," the RA statement said.
"The Rebels have worked closely with Ticketek to expediate tickets going on sale following the execution of the venue agreement."
The administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, last week cut 10 staff including long-serving chief executive Baden Stephenson.
RA re-contracted men's coach Kevin Foote and the high-performance team on four-month deals, while player contracts are secure.
Foote urged rugby fans in Melbourne to get behind the team.
"We're really hoping that we get a good crowd ," Foote said ahead of Monday training.
"The boys have trained well, had two great trial games and a big crowd at the stadium would be really special for us.
"It's five days (away), so let's get behind it and we will be playing a brand of rugby that people love to watch so get down."
Foote also acknowledged how positive results could help secure the Rebels' future beyond this year.
"As a young coach, you probably don't speak about winning as much you say process, process, but winning is important and talking about winning is important," he said.
"It's not lost on us, but we understand that there's obviously a long season to go ... we do speak about winning and it is important and given where the club's at, it'll definitely help."
The Melbourne ground will also host Super Round, which involves all 12 teams in the competition, in round two with matches held Friday to Sunday over the weekend of March 1-3.
There have been no ticketing issues for round two, with the weekend run by the competition rather than the Rebels.