Melbourne Rebels 2025 and beyond...

[Wilson]

To say nothing of having to work across international borders. Imagine some poor 19 year old from rural northern Queensland being sent to Dunedin. RI-fucken-P.

Aside from the temperature change that's probably a pretty straight forward adjustment, country town to country town, they'd be right at home once they pulled on the team flannels. It'd be the silver spoon Sydney private school boy who'd really get the wake up call from that move.

 

[oztimmay]

Reduced supply of Bundy could be a problem for the regional QLD folk. They'd have to move to Speights...[shudders]

 

[Giulia]

Sans Rebels some (most?) will now go to league

We'll see. From what I can tell the reason Melbourne Storm is full of men who grew up in QLD & NSW is because Storm and the ALRC don't spend any money developing rugby league as a participant sport in VIC.

 

[stoff]

That's changing. They've jumped into the school based academy space as one example.

 

[oztimmay]

Looks like the MRRU and RA dodged a bullet here:

Aloisi ‘devastated’ as former champions Western United stripped of A-League licence

The A-Leagues looks set to lose one of its newest additions, with the Melbourne-based club stripped of their licence to compete in the top flight just three years after they won the men’s championship.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Adam84]

Can’t say it’s surprising given the financials and dependencies behind it.

Even when the rumoured marriage was going to take place, quite a number of Western United & A-League fans were opposed to it because they wanted a football exclusive stadium and didn’t want rugby ripping it up. Despite the seasons barely clashing.

Kind of like Perry Park up here in QLD, it was a dumb campaign trying to push for a one-sport facility as it undermines the feasibility.

 

[Red Runner]

I understand Perry Park is a good chance of happening.

 

[Adam84]

It wont be exclusive to just football though, nor should it be if the government fund it, which is what a lot of football fanatics are pushing for.

 

[oztimmay]

Quick court update.

Looks like some dispute in gaining access to the document produced by Deloitte under subpoena. Rugby Australia's legal team are claiming privilege, so they're planning to fight it out over access to the documents. On the schedule it looks like 10 September is the key hearing date to determine if privilege can be invoked for the content fined in the Deloitte subpoena.

Given Delotte's role in the restructure at RA, I'd say there is something quite explosive in the subpoena.

Court listing here: https://comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/VID1059/2024/3995751/event/32420116/document/2560996

 

[oztimmay]

Another take on this recent action from another forum. Somone with some legal training than me (read: none).

The interesting part isn’t the timetable - it’s the fight over discovery and privilege.

Deloitte documents: Produced under subpoena, but Rugby Australia is blocking the Rebels from inspecting them. Likely sensitive financial/governance material.

Privilege disputes: Court forced Rugby Australia to spell out its privilege claims in detail, hinting they may have overreached.

Discovery gaps: Rebels think discovery is incomplete; Court set a strict process to resolve it.

Key date: 10 Sept 2025 hearing will decide if Rugby Australia must hand over more documents and whether Deloitte’s papers can be inspected.
Essentially, the case now turns on who controls the evidence.