Melbourne Rebels 2024

[hoggy]

Don't shoot the messenger

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/strapped-melbourne-rebels-super-rugby-team-in-danger-of-folding/news-story/1279ad17026b5fb5abe3540085874199

Strapped Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby team in danger of folding​

Super Rugby the Competition that keeps on F----G Australian rugby.

 

[Mick The Munch]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Rugby in Victoria is one of the few states where it's growing.

The WC squad had 6 Victorians

Huge Pasifika community

Fasted growing population.

Then again, logic doesn't always prevail.....

 

[Mick The Munch]

Can anyone copy the Aus article - I refuse the give the Murdochs any of my money

 

[Brumby Runner]

Same. When the Rebels were given the 5th Aussie franchise I vowed to become a member and support them come hell or high water. I had never been a member of a sports team before (only had a passing interest in Super Rugby until then). Little did I know it would become a passion. Not sure why but it gave me a sense of belonging. These were my people. Not only have I made many friends along the way who have a similar passion, it has deepened my overall love of Rugby, as well as being more involved in the local Dewar Shield with the Melbourne Quins it has also taken my interest overseas, including attending two US MLR games (Seattle Seawolves) last season. Without the Rebels I fear Rugby will still be a game I love, but it won’t be a must see anymore.
I may have rose-coloured glasses but I’m also a realist. The Rebels aren’t a given (nothing is), but while there’s life, there’s hope.

Great post GMR. Regardless of what happens in and to Super Rugby in the short term, I hope the Rebels, or their replacement if the worst case happens, can survive and take part in the domestic competition that will inevitably replace Super in time and that you and your friends on here can return to the game and enjoy it for a long time to come.

 

[Adam84]

Can anyone copy the Aus article - I refuse the give the Murdochs any of my money

only if you promise to deal with the meltdown from @Fergo & co once i do

I've copied the key quotes, the rest is just standard Holloran rambling or been discussed/posted previously..

The Australian has learned the Rebels are set to request money – understood to be well over $400,000 – from Rugby Australia in order to pay players and staff for the Super Rugby 2024 season.
The Melbourne team are reportedly in debt up to the tune of $9 million.

The Herald Sun has reported Rebels chairman Paul Docherty – the club’s major sponsor – is a director of 10 companies that have lost at least $70 million.KPMG has been appointed administrator to eight companies linked to Hiro Brands, which Docherty has been a director of since 2021.

Insiders claim Melbourne was considering handing back its licence to Rugby Australia because it could not pay its bills, including up to $1 million owed to AAMI Park, where it plays.

The Super Rugby competition starts in a month, with venues booked and marquee players such as Wallabies and Rebels stars Andrew Kellaway and Taniela Tupou needing to be paid.

If the Rebels are to fold, it will cause chaos with RA’s broadcasters Channel 9 and Stan, who have the rights until 2025. The broadcaster will likely demand a reduction in media rights fees if the Rebels disappear.

Last December the Melbourne Rebels wrote to players and staff to assure them their jobs would be safe for next year amid revelations the club is millions of dollars in debt.The timing of the Rebels potentially going into voluntary administration should set off alarm bells for World Rugby chiefs Bill Beaumont and Alan Gilpin, who arrive in Australia this weekend for the World Sevens in Perth.

 

[LeCheese]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria.

Agree with the below though - it's extremely disappointing that a growing market, which is starting to produce both fans and players, is in jeopardy.

There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Rugby in Victoria is one of the few states where it's growing.

The WC squad had 6 Victorians

Huge Pasifika community

Fasted growing population.

Then again, logic doesn't always prevail.....

 

[RugbyReg]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Rugby in Victoria is one of the few states where it's growing.

The WC squad had 6 Victorians

Huge Pasifika community

Fasted growing population.

Then again, logic doesn't always prevail.....

Tupou was a McLennan deal. Nella was going overseas and, once Hamish failed in luring Kerevi back, he was determined to keep Nella. Melbourne more keen to play the game with him that qld it seems.

 

[GoMelbRebels]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Rugby in Victoria is one of the few states where it's growing.

The WC squad had 6 Victorians

Huge Pasifika community

Fasted growing population.

Then again, logic doesn't always prevail.....

How many times have I told you not to use logic in regards to Rugby Australia!

 

[KOB1987]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Rugby in Victoria is one of the few states where it's growing.

The WC squad had 6 Victorians

Huge Pasifika community

Fasted growing population.

Then again, logic doesn't always prevail.....

Agree totally. None of factors would be of interest to the Brumbies though apparently, it all happens in Canberra and Wagga.

 

[Mick The Munch]

How many times have I told you not to use logic in regards to Rugby Australia!

Dang it, my memory os clearly going after banging my head against a Pulver, Castle, McLennan, Waugh shaped wall

 

[Rebelsfan]

Just as long as the players' superannuation payments have been made - otherwise the Melb Rebels Directors could be liable for them - anyone know if they have been paid in the Dec qtr?

 

[Slim 293]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Agree totally. None of factors would be of interest to the Brumbies though apparently, it all happens in Canberra and Wagga.

The Brumbies! I knew it was them! Even when it was the Rebels’ management, I knew it was them!​

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

I still see this as a campaign to get the Rebels under RA control, pure and simple. The fact that RA allow Tupou (They pay his top up) to come south means they see a future in Victoria. There is absolutely no commercial sense in the RA trying to cut off (at a minimum) 25% of their market?

Agree totally. None of factors would be of interest to the Brumbies though apparently, it all happens in Canberra and Wagga.

Financially and market wise the obvious answer is Brumbies to go but they appear to be moderately more solvent than the rebels.
Will be interesting to see what happens. I agree that I think RA will take them over completely and do the same with the Brumbies. Let reds and force stand on their own for awhile longer.
Rebels tried to play hard ball maybe, RA saw the books and said - we will just get everything you want when you go bust soon

 

[Wilson]

Not sure where everyone is getting this idea that it's all a scheme by RA to bring the rebels into the fold, all the reporting has been that the rebels were keen to follow the tahs but RA are the ones not keen on it. If RA wanted control of the rebels that badly they would've taken it weeks ago.

 

[KOB1987]

Financially and market wise the obvious answer is Brumbies to go but they appear to be moderately more solvent than the rebels.
Will be interesting to see what happens. I agree that I think RA will take them over completely and do the same with the Brumbies. Let reds and force stand on their own for awhile longer.
Rebels tried to play hard ball maybe, RA saw the books and said - we will just get everything you want when you go bust soon

I don't want either to go, but what I was referring to is what you allude to in your last point. In the event that the Rebels are wound up, Victorian rugby players still require a professional pathway. They could just be scattered around ad lib but the obvious solution would be for the Brumbies to become the pathway for both ACT and Victorian (and some from southern NSW country) players. This way at least the Brumbies could claim that a reasonable proportion of their players are 'homegrown'. Slim can't get his head around that, I think he sees it as some type of reverse takeover when really it's just an expansion of the Brumbies' player catchment. ACTRU and VRU would still be completely separate entities.

 

[Mick The Munch]

Not sure where everyone is getting this idea that it's all a scheme by RA to bring the rebels into the fold, all the reporting has been that the rebels were keen to follow the tahs but RA are the ones not keen on it. If RA wanted control of the rebels that badly they would've taken it weeks ago.

The Rebels were open to aligning S & C but wanted independent back office - Marketing, board etc......RA said they wanted the whole pie

 

[Mick The Munch]

I don't want either to go, but what I was referring to is what you allude to in your last point. In the event that the Rebels are wound up, Victorian rugby players still require a professional pathway. They could just be scattered around ad lib but the obvious solution would be for the Brumbies to become the pathway for both ACT and Victorian (and some from southern NSW country) players. This way at least the Brumbies could claim that a reasonable proportion of their players are 'homegrown'. Slim can't get his head around that, I think he sees it as some type of reverse takeover when really it's just an expansion of the Brumbies' player catchment. ACTRU and VRU would still be completely separate entities.

Good insights, but having to travel to ACT will put a lot of kids and families off + there is no potential to fill up GIO stadium. just not enough people in the area - Melbourne on the other hand is a HUGE population and growing (acknowledging it's an ultra competitive market)

 

[KOB1987]

Good insights, but having to travel to ACT will put a lot of kids and families off + there is no potential to fill up GIO stadium. just not enough people in the area - Melbourne on the other hand is a HUGE population and growing (acknowledging it's an ultra competitive market)

Yes the upshot of that is that some games would have to be played in Melbourne. I get that not having one 'home ground' is an issue for both bands of supporters, and that both would want in their city. There is no simple solution but the objective is to grow the game in both areas, so whatever it is that achieves that.

 

[Dctarget]

To be frank, I will eventually get over the Rebels' folding. I was a Reds supporter prior to their inception and if they get booted, I will return to the Reds. Life goes on, will always love rugby, even if we become like the Windies. It's been a pretty short, shit existence for a sports team. Few and far between highlights and successes to memorialise.


BUT I did love those 13 years of having the Rebels. I was part of the first generation of Melbourne high schoolers that actually had a professional team to support. We'd get our entire school teams to walk across the river on a Friday night and watch Higgers and Beale stylishly lose games, was always a great vibe. Our team had Hugh Pyle assigned to us and having an actual professional giant teach you was amazing. He was probably bored shitless but we didn't notice.

Everything was so shiny and new, AAMI park had just been built, the gyms were elite. I remember Rebels Academy trials as a 15 year old distinctly, they had a pull up test, as a weak prop I did exactly zero. Look over and Fereti Sa'aga, a prop twice my weight was pumping them out.

One of my best playing memories was playing against Scotch as a curtain raiser at AAMI before the Rebels. Felt like a professional lol. Got photos with Radike & Digby on the pitch post a Reds game, told Digby he was in my fantasy team and he responded, 'what's a fantasy team?'.

I'm sure Melbourne will still produce the occasional Wallaby. Pete Samu came through before the Rebels but it's not a coincidence that my cohort had a boom (Sa'aga, Leota, Tuipulotu, Uelese, Hosea, Fa'amausili).

If it is to be curtains, please let us get 2024 first, so the Rebels can tear ass and go out on top.

 

[Slim 293]

I don't want either to go, but what I was referring to is what you allude to in your last point. In the event that the Rebels are wound up, Victorian rugby players still require a professional pathway. They could just be scattered around ad lib but the obvious solution would be for the Brumbies to become the pathway for both ACT and Victorian (and some from southern NSW country) players. This way at least the Brumbies could claim that a reasonable proportion of their players are 'homegrown'. Slim can't get his head around that, I think he sees it as some type of reverse takeover when really it's just an expansion of the Brumbies' player catchment. ACTRU and VRU would still be completely separate entities.

These are outdated, amateur era obsessions, completely irrelevant to the on field success of any professional sporting organisation…

And largely irrelevant to the Rebels’ woes - if they fold, which would be very, very bad for Australian rugby, some of their players are absorbed by the remaining teams, the rest head overseas, Victorian rugby suffers, reduced pathways, fans lost to the game etc.

There’s no merger, or alliance, or whatever you want to call it.