Melbourne v Sydney club game to be the curtain raiser for the Rebels

[RugbyReg]

There are 6 Sydney grade players in the Rebels wider training group who will be playing for the Rebels b team in this game,

Alex Rocabaro Uni
Dan Kelly Uni
Lua Voiloaloa Parra
Selala Lam Randwick
Sam Latinipalu Souths
Eddie Aohei manly

excellent info there BR. Cheers. Rocabaro. I haven't heard much of him since the Tah trials last year. Did he play club footy last year? Some very good signings there.

 

[en_force_er]

So, one can presume that if 22 players out of the Rebels' 35 will be required for the Super game that day there will be a maximum of 13 full players left plus the 6 in the training squad.

That would mean the squad would have a minimum of 3 Melbourne based players but more likely due to injury 5 or 6. This is of course presuming that there aren't any Qld based players in the training squad.

So how exactly will this be Sydney V Melbourne when only a hand full of Melbourne based players will be represented? I would of liked to have seen a 22 made up of at least half Victorian based players.

 

[blues recovery]

There will be likely no more than 4 players out of the Rebels main squad playing in these games . The expectation is that at least 10 probably 12 players from the local Melbourne competition will be in the Rebels b team. Most of these guys are in an elite local training squad working with Rebels staff at the moment including Chris Slade a centre who is training with the main Squad and will have a run in some of the main Rebels trials. One of the main ideas of these games from a Rebels perspective is to give the best local players the experience of playing with elite level players.

 

[en_force_er]

There will be likely no more than 4 players out of the Rebels main squad playing in these games . The expectation is that at least 10 probably 12 players from the local Melbourne competition will be in the Rebels b team. Most of these guys are in an elite local training squad working with Rebels staff at the moment including Chris Slade a centre who is training with the main Squad and will have a run in some of the main Rebels trials. One of the main ideas of these games from a Rebels perspective is to give the best local players the experience of playing with elite level players.

That's what I presumed would happen but I was worried for a second.

Will they allow players with obvious Victorian links like Hamilton with Para and Grey with Easts to play for the team?

I'd suggest Uglia but I hear he's with the Tah's wider training group.

 

[blues recovery]

Hamilton will be completing his Vic state team duties before moving to Sydney in May so will be in these games. Not the other guys mentioned.

 

[en_force_er]

Hamilton will be completing his Vic state team duties before moving to Sydney in May so will be in these games. Not the other guys mentioned.

That's a shame. Tala Grey was quite the link-man and ball carrier for Eastern Suburbs 1sts in the latter part of last year.

Perhaps not a complete player yes but he is doing fine, even put forth a man of the match performance in one of the televised games.

 

[blues recovery]

Grey was certainly considered for a back row spot but Lam was preferred at this stage.

 

[en_force_er]

Grey was certainly considered for a back row spot but Lam was preferred at this stage.

Can I ask what's your involvement with the Rebels or is that too forward.

You certainly are knowledgeable.

 

[blues recovery]

Just a big fan with some contacts inside the club

 

[#1 Tah]

This is the week the Waratahs have a Bye, so expect a strong Sydney team

Players like Beale, Turner, Waugh, Cross, Carter, Halangahu, Baxter etc can all get a run if they put their hands up

 

[Lee Grant]

Dwyer will be coaching the Sydney team:

Fri 21 Jan 2011

FORMER RUGBY World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer has been appointed coach of the revived Sydney rugby team.

Dwyer, who guided the Wallabies to success at rugby’s premier tournament in 1991, will take charge of the team when it plays Melbourne on March 11.

“Bob is renowned for identifying new rugby talent and developing that talent to international standards,” said Sydney Rugby Union chairman Chris Birch.

“He is going to be an enormous asset as we rebuild the Sydney team which hasn’t played any rep games for more than a decade.”

Aside from coaching the Wallabies, Dwyer has also mentored teams in France and England and also took charge of the Waratahs in 2001, leading them to their first Super 12 semifinal the following year.

The former Randwick loose forward is excited about the next challenge in his long coaching career.

“It’s a great honour to help rebuild the Sydney representative side,” he said.

“There are some outstanding players among the 12 Sydney club sides. We will be looking to play positive, attacking, ball-in-hand rugby.

“And I expect the game against Melbourne, which will include some players from their new Rebels Super Rugby side, to have the traditional competitive edge to any sporting event between Sydney and Melbourne.”

Dwyer has recently been conducting coaching camps and clinics in Italy and the UK.

Phil Blake (Manly), Mark Giacheri (Randwick) and Matt Briggs (Penrith) have also been appointed as the team’s selectors.

I hope that this side gets to play quite a few games like this year after year. The ARC was a good vehicle to see how promising players could play at a level higher than club rugby but without that ideal situation something like this is better than nothing.

There are games for the Super Rugby A teams but these are usually for fellows already in the stable. However the Sydney side could get players who may have been offered pro academy spots or even amateur spots but need to have a paying job, (the pro academy guys get a pittance).


And congrats again to the Sydney Rugby Union for initiating this.

The brainchild of the new Sydney Rugby Union, who take over the management of the Sydney club competition this month, the match has been scheduled as a curtain raiser to the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby home game against South Africa's Sharks on March 11.

 

[topo]

excellent info there BR. Cheers. Rocabaro. I haven't heard much of him since the Tah trials last year. Did he play club footy last year? Some very good signings there.

Rocko played a few games for Uni in 1st grade in a variety of positions: 5/8, centre, wing, maybe even once at fb. Unfortunately for him all the movement didn't allow him to settle anywhere and show what he's got. Then he dislocated a shoulder and needed a shoulder recon in about May. Looks to be a great prospect on the wing, genuine pace and a pretty good footy brain and he's only about 20.

 

[Paul Roberton]

There are 6 Sydney grade players in the Rebels wider training group who will be playing for the Rebels b team in this game,

Alex Rocabaro Uni
Dan Kelly Uni
Lua Voiloaloa Parra
Selala Lam Randwick
Sam Latinipalu Souths
Eddie Aohei manly

I'm not 100% sure but I think Alex Rocabaro played against Tonga on Saturday. Could any one help confirm?

 

[RugbyReg]

yeah he did.

 

[Slim 293]

This is the week the Waratahs have a Bye, so expect a strong Sydney team

Players like Beale, Turner, Waugh, Cross, Carter, Halangahu, Baxter etc can all get a run if they put their hands up

Please do.

With the extended season it increases the chance of injury to Waratah players...