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Melbourne Storm fans gather outside Aami staudiuim to show their support at a training session on Saturday, April 24, 2010. AAP Image/David Crosling
Approximately one year ago, I wrote my debut article for The Roar, discussing the potential effects the Melbourne Rebels Super rugby team would have on the Melbourne Storm. If a week is a long time in football, a year is an eternity.
In the past year, the Rebels have been awarded a licence, overcome finance and ownership issues, recruited a good coach and a strong roster.
The Storm, on the other hand, have had what could conservatively be described as one of the worst years of any team in the history of Australian sport.
At the start of 2010, they had participated in four consecutive grand finals, for two victories, and by round four, were unbeaten and had just achieved their largest ever regular season crowd in their victory over St George Illawarra.
Since that date, they were stripped of all premierships, prize money and became an exhibition side – the Harlem Globetrotters of Australian sport.
So what’s in store for the rugby codes in 2011 in the Victorian capital?
The NRL, who released the 2011 draw last week, only clash with the Rebels on one weekend – NRL Round 1 (Storm v Manly), and S15 Round 4 (Rebels v Coastal Sharks).
As they share a venue, and the NRL employs a floating schedule decided upon by Channel 9, avoiding same round clashes was probably the right decision.
However, the codes are both doing their utmost to ensure they remain competitive in the difficult Melbourne market.
The Storm play nine of their first thirteen matches in Melbourne, including opening against rivals Manly, and saving their match against New Zealand – traditionally the biggest of the year – for the AFL black hole of Good Friday. They have also saved big ticket games against the Broncos and the Dragons for later in the year.
As for the Rebels, SANZAR have come to the party, rejigging the draw to focus on ‘local derbies’ – with all Australian teams playing each other twice.
The lack of interest in visiting South African and New Zealand teams being one of the major barriers to Super Rugby attendances, this should now result in a significant increase in popularity for all five Australian franchises. (It seems SANZAR have finally got it right – how Super Rugby could have existed for several years with the Reds and Waratahs playing each other only once per year, I will never know.)
As the Rebels will not appear on FTA TV, bragging rights will likely go to the team that secures the highest average attendance across the season, even though the Rebels will play four fewer games than the Storm, two of which take place before the NRL season.
It remains to be seen whether the biggest perceived threat to the Storm’s popularity – that the high percentage of Kiwis and Polynesians who support the Melbourne Storm will jump ship and support Union – will be realised.
Or – instead of cannibalising existing support – whether the Rebels can increase awareness of the different rugby codes and secure a foothold for both in Australia’s second largest city.
PS: As I learned swiftly upon my induction to The Roar, code wars are as frequent as they are unhelpful. This piece was not intended to be a code war firestarter, but rather an opportunity to consider how the respective rugby codes will go in their first head-to-head battle.
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