Melbourne Heart and Rebels: A tale of two franchises

 
Adrian Musolino Columnist

By , 1 Feb 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

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Wallaby Chris Latham (left) of the East Coast Aces (Gold Coast) and Melbourne Rebels captain and former Wallaby David Croft share a joke at Olympic Park in Melbourne, Friday, Aug. 17, 2007. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)

As the dust settles on the flurry of announcements that followed Melbourne Rebels’ clearance to join what will become the Super 15 rugby competition in 2011, there is still a heavy silence surrounding their fellow expansion side in the Victorian capital, the A-League’s Melbourne Heart.

In their embryonic stages, the Rebels have achieved more traction in 2010 than the Melbourne Heart, despite the fact the Heart debut six months (approximately) earlier than the Rebels.

With an announcement predicted to come this week from the Heart franchise – hopefully to confirm its name, strip and a website (currently only a syndicate site exists – with the term syndicate in the title!) – the long wait for news from the A-League franchise will finally come to an end. But it’s unlikely the Heart’s announcement will cause as much of a raucous as the Rebels’.

Fuelled by the scepticism and doubts about Melbourne’s ability to sustain a rugby franchise (especially alongside an NRL club), the Rebels announced some impressive signings in quick succession to form the nucleus of their structure – coach Rod Macqueen and former Melbourne Storm NRL chief executive Brian Waldron.

Importantly, as opposed to the Heart, the Rebels already have an identity – a name, colours, website, and a forum for their fans to engage and rally online.

The Rebel Army, the unofficial supporter group of the franchise, is already building an impressive following on their corresponding social networking sites.

Such interest was undoubtedly helped by the speed of announcements following their acceptance into the competition, which created enormous hype – featuring prominently in the sporting headlines and causing much debate in the state.

In contrast, the Heart franchise has been conspicuous by its silence.

Their snail-paced approach in deciding and announcing its branding, particularly the incredibly drawn-out name saga, has failed to generate any tangible signs of excitement, be it in the football community and the press.

It appears almost certain the franchise will stick with the Heart name, despite the Herald Sun poll put to Victorians to name the club.

As discussed previously, this was probably the only option considering the recognition that’s built around the Heart name.

Uninspiring for many, Heart lacks imagination and certainly doesn’t help the franchise significantly differentiate itself from the Melbourne Victory. Judging by the whole naming debacle, you sense the franchise has been forced to stick with the working name that they were unconvinced about to begin with.

And even made clear in the Fairfax press: “The name the Rebels had its origins in the goldfields of Ballarat in the 19th century in the uprising at Eureka Stockade. The rebel miners were fighting for a fair go, and in many ways Eureka represented the beginnings of the Australian egalitarian spirit.”

The association with the Eureka Stockade gives the club meaning. It stands for something; it matters.

And by sticking with the branding and name of the Melbourne Rebels franchise that played in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship (ARC), there is continuity in terms of recognition.

The names and brandings may be for the eye of the beholder to judge, but the traction the Rebels have achieved in their comparatively shorter existence (since being accepted into Super rugby) has highlighted the flaws in the Heart’s slow approach.

There’s no definitive time-frame or guidebook for an expansion franchise to follow in terms of building the club’s structure, generating publicity and building a fanbase. But you sense Heart have stagnated for too long, and have left themselves with an awful lot of work to do before their debut in next season’s A-League.

The Rebels certainly have the edge on their compatriots at present.

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