Melbourne Rebels step in Super Rugby
Last year Melbourne Rebels weren’t a part of the Super 15, but after all the legalities were done behind the scenes and other franchises were done with their season, Rebel’s management reached out to sign a fresh and competitive team. It all resulted into
an army of well travelled veterans, league converts, untried rookies, Super Rugby regulars and a bunch of genuine stars.
Rod McQueen, the head coach for Melbourne Rebels admitted that his aim was to design a true rugby culture and indulge all kinds of players to get diverse and maximum output. McQueen was determined bring up an experiment and a game play that will surprise
many teams for sure.
Everyone has great expectations though it is known that Rome wasn’t built in one night. It is pretty much safe to believe that the first private competitive team of Australia will initiate as rank outsiders. They surely have a bunch of international elite
class players and keystones on the basis of which team has been put together. On the other hand, Stirling Mortlock at back and Greg Somerville up front are not just spring chickens, they bring along immense talent and experience.
Plenty of talent is imported by Rebels, like Michel Lipman and Danny Capriani both Englishmen. These players will add international flavour but the major issue that is going to be faced is regarding the depth on field. In a five months long tournament, its
side effects will start appearing.
During the warm up games of Rebels, many strong performances and skilled demonstration of rugby was witnessed. Sides like Crusaders have been pumped up and threatened by this new line-up. Todd Blackadder the Crusaders coach said everyone should fear this
side.
As witnessed last year, Reds suffered a major setback due to injuries; Rebels will face the same issue. In such a demanding competition injuries are expected at normal basis.
Few of the noticeable signings are:
Greg Somerville Richard Kingi Stirling Mortlock Julian Huxley Gareth Delve Danny Cipriani Sam Cordingley Cooper Vuna Luke Rooney Rodney Blake Michael Lipman
Stirling Mortlock is captaining the team through the first two rounds of the tournament. Rebels have surely spent well to sign a well experienced and determined Wallaby skipper. He will surely be a key factor in polishing the new stones and giving the club
a good start. The 34-year-old Mortlock will not be playing for long, but until then his presence will count a lot and Gareth Delve will be trained until then to take over for him.
Rod McQueen is debatably the most successful Wallaby coach and was the one who led Australia to the World Cup triumph in 1999. IRB international coach of the year and former Brumbies boss has decided to retire from retirement and is about to go through the
most challenging phase of his coaching career. Being the head coach, he will be assisted by Nathan Grey the former Wallaby and Mark Bakewell the former Bath forwards coach. Damian Hill, the three-time Shute Shield winning Sydney University coach has also been
hired in order to assist McQueen in backline.
The most prominent figure in Melbourne Rebels from Rugby League is Cooper Vuna. Hundred percent of audience of Rugby League knows this name and now the Rugby Union fans will get to hear this name a lot.
Regardless of having a variety of players in one squad it will be difficult to see the newcomers giving a good finish to the tournament. Their ultimate goals will be to beat Western Force and steer clear of the Wooden Spoon.
Their first match is against Waratahs on 18th February followed by Brumbies on 25th February.
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