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Rebels hoping the 'ultimate team man' can deliver victory over Drua in revenge match

By AAP
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Despite making progress last round, the Melbourne Rebels are far from satisfied as a first Super Rugby Pacific win proves elusive.

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Melbourne host the Fijian Drua at AAMI Park on Friday, with the game presenting as a prime opportunity for a breakthrough as the newcomers’ sole victory in the opening five rounds came against the Rebels in round three.

Then Melbourne blew a 14-0 lead and failed to take advantage of a Drua yellow card, with the Fijians scoring three long-range tries either side of halftime plus a slew of penalties to earn a 31-26 win.

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Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 6

Last round the Rebels improved but suffered a five-point loss to the NSW Waratahs in Sydney, and winger Andrew Kellaway said they wouldn’t be happy until they got a victory.

“It’s important to note it was an improvement, we definitely got better there and for the first time since the Drua game we were in with a chance to win the game,” Kellaway said on Thursday.

“It’s important to take the positives out of that but it’s still another loss.

“We’re still not where we want to be.”

Among eight changes, 19-year-old Victorian-born lock Daniel Maiava has been named to make his debut from the Rebels bench.

James Tuttle has relegated starting halfback Joe Powell to the bench.

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Lock Matt Philip said he thought Tuttle’s game style would suit Melbourne’s plans to counter the Drua.

“I’m pretty excited to play with ‘Bobby’ – he’s a pretty special guy and a lot of people say he’s the ultimate team man, ” the Wallabies forward said.

“He’s got great game management skill behind him and that’s what we need tomorrow night – someone who’s going to help steer the ship, play the right parts of the field and play the style of rugby that’s going to help us win and not suit them as much, I guess.”

Philip said the Rebels needed to control of the game and play it at their preferred tempo rather than let the Fijians play unstructured rugby, where they flourished.

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“For large parts of that last game against them we did do that but as soon as we started to not execute things, drop a few balls or just take the full throttle for a little bit, they scored,” Phillip said.

“They’re a pretty good team to watch but not as fun to play against.”

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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