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The cries of the die-hard members of the Victorian Rugby Community were answered late last year. After so long, top flight rugby was coming to Victoria. The Melbourne Rebels were resurrected.
This decision however left many hundreds of fans across Australia, and indeed the rugby world, asking “who will play, run and coach such a team?”
Fast forward. We are now just shy of February in the new year these questions are beginning to be answered.
The franchise has now secured the services of a terrific coaching staff with both experience and a lust to prove themselves.
This isn’t to say anyone in their right mind thinks Rod MacQueen and Damien Hill don’t have a hard road ahead of them. Player recruitment from scratch is never an easy task, yet I have faith these two ‘gentlemen of rugby’ can make the best of this situation.
I am Victorian rugby player and fan. I learnt about the game through the VSRU system, a proud and competitive league which thrillingly produced two Australia Schoolboys this year.
Combine that number with the two produced by the Victorian club ranks and it’s clear Vic Rugby is going places. Now, don’t confuse my passion with arrogance I understand this year was more fruitful that most but I honestly think that this proves Victoria has something to offer the rugby world.
Waffling aside, this article was written for a purpose. To answer the question I have been asking myself again and again, “who will play for Melbourne in their debut year?”
Out of curiosity I made a little list of names. As I thought of more names, I crossed off others and replaced them. Soon, this list had turned into a squad.
Now, there will be limits to the future Melbournian squad. Money, age, nationality, current obligations, etcetera will all play a part. I don’t envy the people with the job of courting the players. Priorities will have to be set; a perfect combination of stars, journeymen and Victorians will be hard to find.
Now, as I said above I wrote myself up a blueprint to a squad just like this. A squad I would love to have represent my state.
Current contract obligations didn’t play a part in my hypothetical squad. Nowadays, players are often granted early contract exemptions when they have good reason, most recently Aaron Mauger.
No team wants to pay a player whose heart isn’t in it. In the following list of names you may notice a few Sydney Uni up-and-comers, Damien Hill was a Sydney Uni coach after all, and a few more Victorians than one would expect. It wouldn’t surprise me if the final squad is similar in this respect.
Take a trip into the world of rugby “what-ifs”. Come next year I could see the Melbourne squad looking something like this:
Props:
Rodney Blake, Matt Dunning, John Uglia (Victorian), Agustín Creevy (Argentinian), Tevita Mailau (AUS eligible).
Hookers:
James Hanson, Ole Avei (Victorian).
Locks:
Hugh McMeniman, Pat O’Connor, Cameron Treloar, Levan Datunashvili (Georgian),
Open-Side Flankers:
Beau Robbinson, Julian Salvi.
Blide-Side Flankers:
Dylan Sigg, Siviteni Mafi.
Number 8s:
Tamati Horua (Victorian), Talelei Gray (Victorian).
Scrum-Halves:
Agustin Figuerola (Argentina), Jeremy Sua, Phil Mack (Canadian).
Fly-Halves:
Brock James (Victorian, kind of), Mike Hercus (American).
Centres:
Lloyd Johansson (Victorian), Rex Tapuai (Victorian), Ben Tapuai (Victorian).
Wings:
Tim Finau (Victorian), William Ryder (Fijian), Peter Betham, Mark Gasnier.
Fullbacks:
Christian Lealiifano (Victorian), Michael Pike (Canadian/AFL).
How great would that be! A few thing influenced the make-up of the hypothetical squad, as they will influence the make-up of Melbourne’s actual squad.
Firstly, you will probably notice the lack of Phil Vickery, Brian O’Driscol or the like. The truth is in 2011 Tier 1 national players will be hunting for a World Cup berth.
As such the players making up the squad are from the smaller nations without professional set-ups. Not only is this practical but the rugby world as a whole would benefit from this.
Secondly, this squad has a huge quantity of Victorians, 10 in fact.
This is a Victorian team and as such should include as many established players from the region as possible. All of these men have experienced high levels of Australian Rugby and deserve their spots. There are no slouches in this squad. This side isn’t just about winning it’s about representing Victoria.
Thirdly, there is only 6 non Australians are in this squad. 10 non-Australians just aren’t necessary for this team.
The Force caused issue by recruiting aggressively from Queensland but this squad’s Australian players come from diverse sources and as such won’t cause a problem for the other teams. International players won’t be that necessary.
Another reason to leave these spots open is because of the fact many of the next bests playing in Victoria Premier Division are non-Australian players. International player spots must be left open so that players can fill in if injury strikes.
My fond hope is that somewhere along the line a Rebels higher up reads this, considers it and laughs about how close it is to the list they’ve drawn up. But really, who knows?
I end this article with a question and some food for thought. The question, “who would play for your ideal Melbourne Rebels in 2011?”.
And the food for thought, picture the Melbourne Rebels rolling out in a year with a 22 looking a little something like this:
1. Matthew Dunning
2. James Hanson
3. Rodney Blake
4. Hugh McMeniman
5. Pat O’Connor
6. Dylan Sigg
7. Beau Robbinson
8. Julian Salvi
9. Agustin Figuerola
10. Brock James
11. Peter Betham
12. Lloyd Johansson
13. Rex Tapuai
14. Mark Gasnier
15. Christian Lealiifano
16. John Uglia
17. Tevita Mailau
18. Levan Datunashvili
19. Tamati Horua
20. Jeremy Sua
21. Ben Tapuai
22. Mike Hercus
Now that would be a 22 we could be proud of.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.