2011 Super Rugby Melbourne Rebels Player of the Year

It was difficult to predict where the new kids on the block, the Melbourne Rebels, would finish in their debut year of Super Rugby. Well, difficult for Rugby Reg who tipped them to finish 10th in his season preview back in January. ‘With better depth, I reckon they’ll sneak past the Force to finish 4th amongst the Aussie teams’, he said. How wrong he was. The Rebels were tail-end Charlies from their first game of the season and rarely looked anything but, securing just the three wins.

That’s not to say they didn’t have some decent players, however, and each week in the forum, fans would vote for their best and fairest (awarding 3, 2 and 1 points) for each of the Aussie teams. With the season now over, it’s time to look back and see who were the stars for each team, and each round. We’re commencing with the cellar dwellers, the Melbourne Rebels.

Round 1 v. Waratahs 

3 – Gareth Delve
2 – Michael Lipman
1 – Julian Huxley

NSW WARATAHS 43 (Kurtley Beale 2, Drew Mitchell 2, Rob Horne, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Phil Waugh tries; Berrick Barnes 3, Kurtley Beale cons) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 0 at AAMI Park.

Round 2 v. Brumbies

3 – Danny Cipriani
2 – Mark Gerrard
1 – Gareth Delve

MELBOURNE REBELS 25 (Stirling Mortlock try Danny Cipriani con 6 pens Mark Gerrard drop goal) bt BRUMBIES 24 (Pat McCabe, Henry Speight tries Matt Giteau con 3 pens drop goal)

Round 3 v. Chiefs

3 – Mark Gerrard
2 – Gareth Delve
1 – Danny Cipriani

CHIEFS 38 (Lelia Masaga 2, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Arizona Taumalolo tries Stephen Donald 3 cons 4 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 10 (Gareth Delve try Danny Cipriani con pen)

Round 4 v. Sharks

3 – Jarrod Saffy
2 – Danny Cipriani
1 – Gareth Delve

SHARKS 34 (Meyer Bosman, Bismarck du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Lwazi Mvovo tries Patrick Lambie 4 cons 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 32 (Danny Cipriani, Julian Huxley, Jarrod Saffy, Cooper Vuna tries Cipriani 3 cons 2 pens)

Round 5 v. Reds

3 – Nick Phipps
2 – Cooper Vuna
1 – Lachlan Mitchell

QUEENSLAND REDS 53 (Michael Harris 2, Ben Daley, Anthony Faingaa, Scott Higginbotham, Luke Morahan, Adam Wallace-Harrison tries Quade Cooper 5, Harris cons Cooper 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 3 (Danny Cipriani pen)

Round 6 v. Hurricanes

3 – Nick Phipps
2 – Gareth Delve
1 – Jarrod Saffy

MELBOURNE REBELS 42 (Alister Campbell 2, Rodney Blake, Michael Lipman, Nick Phipps, Cooper Vuna tries Danny Cipriani 3 cons 2 pens) bt HURRICANES 25 (Dane Coles, Chris Eaton, Daniel Kirkpatrick, Victor Vito tries Kirkpatrick con pen)

Round 7 v. Western Force

3 – Hugh Pyle
2 – Mark Gerrard
1 – Jarrod Saffy

Round 9 v. Highlanders

3 – Hugh Pyle
2 – Greg Sommerville
1 – Nick Phipps

HIGHLANDERS 40 (Siale Piatau 2, Adam Thompson 2, Kade Poki, Alando Soakai tries, Robbie Robinson 2 cons, 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 18 (Hugh Pyle, Greg Somerville tries, Danny Cipriani con, 2 pens)

Round 10 v. Blues

3 – Gareth Delve
2 – Hugh Pyle
1 – Jarrod Saffy

BLUES 40 (Rene Ranger 2, Luke Braid, Jared Payne, Joe Rokocoko, Benson Stanley tries Stephen Brett, Luke McAlister cons Brett 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 23 (Lachlan Mitchell, Cooper Vuna tries Danny Cipriani 2 cons 3 pens)

Round 11 v. Waratahs

3 – Mark Gerrard
2 – Julian Huxley
1 – Gareth Delve

NSW WARATAHS 28 (David Dennis, Dean Mumm, Tatafu Polota-Nau tries Kurtley Beale 2 cons 3 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 9 (Julian Huxley 3 pens)

Round 12 v. Reds

3 – Gareth Delve
2 – Nick Phipps
1 – Stirling Mortlock

QUEENSLAND REDS 33 (Scott Higginbotham, Digby Ioane, Radike Samo, Dom Shipperley tries Quade Cooper 2 cons 3 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 18 (Peter Betham, James Hilgendorf, Afusipa Taumoepeau tries Julian Huxley pen)

Round 13 v. Bulls

3 – Richard Kingi
2 – Cooper Vuna
1 – Stirling Mortlock

BULLS 47 (Wynand Olivier 3, Zane Kirchner 2, Bjorn Basson, Fourie du Preez tries Morne Steyn 6 cons) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 10 (Cooper Vuna try Julian Huxley con pen)

Round 14 v. Cheetahs

3 – Mark Gerrard
2 – Richard Kingi
1 – Jarrod Saffy

CHEETAHS 41 (Adriaan Strauss 2, Corne Uys 2, Rayno Benjamin tries Sias Ebersohn 4, Naas Olivier cons Ebersohn 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 21 (1 penalty try) (Mark Gerrard, Ged Robinson tries Richard Kingi 3 cons)

Round 16 v. Stormers

3 –  Jarrod Saffy
2 – Hugh Pyle
1 – Mark Gerrard

STORMERS 40 (Kurt Coleman, Jean De Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Nick Koster tries Coleman 2, Earl Rose cons Coleman 3 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 3 (Julian Huxley pen)

Round 17 v. Brumbies

3 – Jarrod Saffy
2 – Mark Gerrard
1 – Gareth Delve

BRUMBIES 32 (Matt Giteau, Christian Lealiifano, Pat McCabe, Stephen Moore, Tyrone Smith tries Giteau 2 cons pen) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 17 (Jarrod Saffy, Afusipa Taumoepeau tries Danny Cipriani 2 cons pen)

Round 18 v. Force

3 – Gareth Delve
2 – Mark Gerrard
1 – Stirling Mortlock

WESTERN FORCE 27 (David Smith, James Stannard tries William Ripia con Stannard 4, Ripia pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 24 (Adam Freier, Stirling Mortlock tries Mortlock con Danny Cipriani 4 pens)

There were two stand-outs for the Rebels in a season that provided the occasional glimmer of sunshine among numerous weekends of doom. In the end it’s team vice-captain Gareth Delve who takes the crown and is the inaugural G&GR Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby Player of the Year.

The result won’t surprise people who watched the Rebels on a consistent basis. Delve was a model of consistency, whose leadership was critical and whose storming runs were a regular source of go-forward for the team. The final voting ended up as follows:

With Delve taking out top spot, the minor placings are filled with players who justify the creation of this fifth Australian Super Rugby Franchise. Mark Gerrard proved himself just too good a player not to be playing at home and available for Wallaby selection. Youngsters Jarrod Saffy, Nick Phipps and Hugh Pyle, if they had played elsewhere, may not have received the same game time as in Melbourne, and are now all legitimate Wallaby World Cup candidates.

So did our readers get it right? Who were the best performed Rebels in your eyes, and who were the disappointments and surprise packets?