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Season Pre-view: Melbourne Rebels
Not much is going on with Rugby news at the moment so I thought I might to my take on the Melbourne Rebels for 2011. Other Aussie teams to follow in the coming weeks
Super rugby has begun a brand new phase with a new format, new finals series and a brand new team: The Melbourne Rebels. The last two years or so has seen a range of dramas from which city should get the licence to which Victorian consortium should get the licence to ARU funding to player recruitment. The dramas are finally over and finally we are in sight of the team doing their talking on the field. Now, what are they going to say? Half of me wants them to say “We are a bunch of pansies and Melbourne isn’t the sporting capital of the world” but the other half wants Australian rugby to be strong and healthy. God knows I would love to see them come out and belt the Waratahs in the season opener in February. A successful Rebels team will bring a bit of the excitement back to Australian rugby. Lord knows we could do without having an Australian version of the Lions. Though I imagine the Lions themselves will be licking their chops at the possibility of a team they could actually beat.
Either way, the Rebels are here. The Rebels are ready. Contrary to expectation, they have thrown together a side that looks capable of being competitive from the get go. They boast arguably the best coach in the competition. Not since the Force and the Cheetahs joined Super rugby in 2006 has a season offered so much excitement and so much promise. Bring it on Rebels.
Form from 2010
No form! No games played as of yet. There was a Melbourne Rebels team in the now disbanded ARC, however this team bears little resemblance to that team with none of the same players or coaching staff. The ARC Rebels were in fine form back in 2007 and finished the season as runners-up. The Melbourne Rebels of 2011 are also likely to be runners-up in their inaugural season. Runners-up for the wooden spoon.
Comings and Goings
Everyone and no one.
Players to watch out for...
The Melbourne Rebels are an eclectic mix of rugby players from around the globe. England, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, and there are even a couple of Aussies in there too. I am inclined to say everyone is worthy of being watched. Not since the Force ran out onto Subiaco Oval in 2006 has Australia produced a new Super rugby team and this one is clouded by mystique for a completely different reason. Where the Force was the birth of a new team of young talent from across Australia and held together with smattering of experience, the Melbourne Rebels formation is more of a renaissance. A second chance saloon. The experienced also-rans of the past held together with a hint of enigmatic young talent. Rod Macqueen has done this before in fashioning the scraps of Queensland and New South Wales into Australia’s most successful franchise, the ACT Brumbies. Will it work again?
After this year’s Spring Tour and the hammering our scrum has received it is hard to look past Rodney ‘Rodzilla’ Blake. The 130kg behemoth was touted as the saviour of the Australian scrum in 2006, however after 7 tests the Tongan giant was shown up in his technique and workrate. Bone spurs in his foot prevented him from pushing for a spot in the 2007 World Cup where the Wallabies were ambushed and beaten off the back of the English scrum. Would Rod have made the difference? In 2008 he moved to France to get more game time and to learn his trade off the best in the business. Now that he returns, will he make the difference in 2011? An eager Australian rugby public will be saying “I bloody hope so”. This is Rod’s chance at a second slice of the cake and God knows he loves the cake!
An exciting young gun will be nestling up to Rod next year in none other than Ged Robinson. Born to two parents with poor skills in choosing baby names, Ged has all the hallmarks of a star hooker. He is mobile, strong, and is reliable in the set-piece. What he lacks in weight can be comfortably covered by the beasts on either side of him. What they lack in mobility he can cover with his high workrate. Ged will be eligible for the Wallabies within 3 years and it is hard to see him not getting some significant game time with his only competition being the perennially injured Adam Freier and the inexperienced (at this level at least) Heath Tessman.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but in the backs I will be keeping a close eye on Mark Gerrard. Not that I think he is within range of a Wallabies spot, God no! Merely because I want to see him shown up for the gimp he is. I still recall snide comments that Gerrard landed at the Wallabies from Japan after Robbie Deans overlooked him in his first Wallabies squad. Wanker. Further wanktastic comments from Gerrard include complaints about John Connolly not giving him enough of a chance at 10, despite his dreadful game there against the Ospreys in 2006. Gerrard has a major chip on his shoulder which is not a surprise having spent around 5 seasons at the Brumbies. Call me harsh but I want to see him burnt for being slow and lazy and spending the rest of the season on the outer; wishing he was getting splinters on the bench.
In the Rebels backline you can’t spell exciting without Richard Kingi. You also can’t spell bogan without Richard Kingi. The guy squeezed out three kids by the age of 20. If only he could bring the same commitment to his rugby. But for all the stick, Kingi is a highly talented rugby player and is the halfback equivalent of Quade Cooper. Kingi cut his teeth in rugby 7s and his running game is clearly the standout feature in his livewire style of play. After teaming up alongside Cooper in the 2009 spring tour, big things were expected of Kingi in 2010, however Billy Genia kept him at bay with the Reds and he’s moved south for 2011. There is still a spot for the third choice Wallaby scrum-half in 2011- possibly even second spot if he shows up Burgess. Will Kingi be able to live up to the potential he showed in 2009?
The Strengths
The Rebels have a lot of experience in the books and plenty of leadership. They have good leaders in Al Campbell, Michael Lipman, Sam Cordingley, Greg Somerville, Gareth Delve, Adam Freier, Kevin O’Neill and former Wallaby captain Stirling Mortlock. This may be crucial in the forging of a new side. It is still unclear who the inaugural captain will be.
A further strength is a potential monster pack. The Rebels boast some hefty props and a number of locks over 200cm. Macqueen seems to be building a wrecking ball that will dominate in the set pieces. Each of the other Australian franchises will be sweating a little bit when they come up against the Rebels machine. Win or lose- it will be a bruising affair.
The coach. Rod Macqueen is the only Super 15 coach who has won a Rugby World Cup. That puts him in a class of his own. He built the Brumbies from scratch and did a fantastic job of it. He should be able to do it again despite having been out of coaching for the last decade. He has surrounded himself with some other talented coaches including Sydney Uni’s Damien Hill. Now admittedly Hill’s record with Sydney Uni is really more of a reflection of the talent he had at his disposal but he is still a good acquisition.
The Weaknesses
For each one of the Rebel’s strengths there are also a handful of weaknesses. For all of their experience, the team is carrying a number of players who are injury liabilities. It is hard to believe that Sam Cordingley, Stirling Mortlock, Adam Freier and Greg Somerville won’t spend a significant amount of the season on the sidelines. There is not a lot of depth behind some of these positions either.
Even if the Rebels do exorcise their injury demons there is still the issue of form. Some of these guys couldn’t cut the mustard in their last foray with Super rugby and others are entirely unproven at this level. One wonders if league converts Cooper Vuna and Jarrod Saffy are capable of bucking the trend of disappointing defectors. Will guys like Mark Gerrard and Rod Blake, who have been away for a couple of years, be able to return to the level they were at when they left? Was that level good enough in the first place? The Rebel’s one member of this year’s spring tour squad, Nic Phipps- uncapped, speaks bounds about the make up of their squad. Too many bridesmaids and not enough brides?
Is there too much of a focus on the big units in the Rebel’s pack? Will they be able to keep up with the demands of the running rugby of Reds? Or the mobility of the Force backrow? No doubt they will be competitive against the South Africans, but will they be able to keep up with everyone else? Michael Lipman would have to be their first choice open-side flanker and I am not convinced that he could keep up- particularly after many years playing in England. They don’t seem capable of a plan B. Stirling Mortlock was rabbiting on during the week about the Rebels having a ‘unique’ style. They certainly seem to be bucking the trend of mobility but it hasn’t worked for the Springboks this year and there is no reason to believe it will for the Rebels.
This leads into their back division which, in my opinion, also seems limited in a plan B. Do they have out-and-out pace? Julian Huxley and Mark Gerrard aren’t renowned counter-attackers. Stirling Mortlock will probably be utilizing a zimmer frame (which will probably still get him through the Lions’ defence). Peter Betham and JP du Plessis are the teams’ only specialist wingers and both are unproven at Super rugby level. They have some great playmakers- Huxley, Hilgendorf, Cipriani- but is the rest of the team capable of much else but crash ball and kicking?
Finally, the big problem: Cohesion. Will the team gel? Will the game plan work for them? It took the Force half a dozen games to click into gear and start putting opposition teams under pressure. The Rebels have an older, more mature squad but you can’t expect them to be winners from the get go. It will be interesting to put a cheeky bet on when they’ll win their first game.
Prediction for 2011
Very hard to say. Too much of an unknown quantity. They’ll be better than the Force were in 2006. But how much better? I don’t think they have the squad to be successful in their first year. They’ll win some games and pull off some surprises. Certainly their first up game against the Waratahs will be one to watch as passion will be oozing out the wazoo. But I can’t see them doing any better than 13th.
James' Rebels XV
1. Greg Somerville
2. Adam Freier
3. Rodney Blake
4. Ali Campbell
5. Kevin O'Neill
6. Tom Chamberlain
7. Michael Lipman
8. Gareth Delve
9. Richard Kingi
10. James Hilgendorf
11. Mark Gerrard
12. Danny Cipriani
13. Stirling Mortlock
14. Peter Betham
15. Julian Huxley
