Coach Kevin Foote has painted a grim picture of the embattled Melbourne Rebels, who look set to enter this Super Rugby Pacific season as dead men walking.
After the Rebels entered voluntary administration earlier this month with debts of around $20 million, Rugby Australia is still to make a decision on the outfit’s future.
But it appears increasingly dire with administrators PricewaterhouseCooper cutting 10 staff including chief executive Baden Stephenson, who had been with Melbourne for 10 years.
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While the players’ contracts for 2024 are guaranteed, Rugby Australia (RA) re-contracted the high-performance staff, including Foote, only on four-month deals.
Having signed two-year deals late last year, Foote revealed one coach had just started a home renovation while another couldn’t tell his son about the prospect of the side folding because the child would worry about his dad and family.
Even with the axe hanging over their head, Foote had hoped to carry on as “business as usual” but the loss of Stephenson has hit home.
Coach Kevin Foote of the Rebels looks on prior to the round 14 Super Rugby Pacific match between the Hurricanes and the Melbourne Rebels at Sky Stadium on May 21, 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
“We were told things would remain as they are for the 2024 season and then to see Baden walk out of the building was very hard-hitting,” Foote told AAP.
“He’s such a good man and he does so much for us so that was hard, and then with the rest of the staff as well but that’s the reality that we’re in.
“I’m very grateful they kept the high-performance staff together so that we can put a good product up, but when you sign those four-month contracts you also know that it’s pretty real.”
RA boss Phil Waugh, who addressed Rebels staff in Melbourne on Thursday morning, told AAP that the redundancies didn’t signal the club would definitely be axed.
“There’s no correlation – we’ve maintained over 80 per cent of staff, so it’s not like it’s been reduced to skeleton staff,” Waugh said.
“We’ve kept on all the high-performance staff to ensure that we can deliver the season effectively and create the right environment for our athletes.”
Waugh said he didn’t have a “clear picture” of when the call would be made but acknowledged that players and staff needed certainty as soon as possible.
Promising young flanker Josh Kemeny, who made his Wallabies Test debut during the World Cup, has already signed with UK club Northampton.
“I don’t have an exact timeline, just because there’s so many different stakeholders and we need to ensure that we’re making sensible high-performance and economic decisions,” Waugh said.
“We’re certainly trying to accelerate at an appropriate speed.”
The Rebels face Fijian Drua in their final pre-season match on Friday and then host the ACT Brumbies at AAMI Park in round one next Friday night with ticket sales set to finally go on sale for that match.
Foote named nine Test players, including former Queensland Reds trio Taniela Tupou, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Filipo Daugunu, in likely the strongest line-up in his time as head coach; an irony not lost on him.
He said the staff and the players had to focus on the games, not the future.
“We can’t get too animated and then all of a sudden fall into a hole,” Foote said.
“If we start panicking now, it’s not going to help us perform.
“So the mantra is ‘the better we do, the better everyone will do’.
“Right now it’s about this year, the 2024 season, and we’re going to have to continually make sure that our emotions are in check so that we can maintain it through the season, because it’s a brilliant squad.”
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
My comment was a bit tongue in cheek,Paul!It was more directed at the Andrew Forrests of this world.
Honest Max
Roar Rookie
They won’t stay millionaires long it they buy the Rebels.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The Force didnt record 10k at a single game in 2023
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Not many billionaires around but there are a lot of millionaires involved in Rugby Union.
Crazy Horse
Roar Pro
Plenty of people going to Force games.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Totally agree, most current Wallabies will have been on the phone to their manager's with a request to "explore options ASAP".
Guess
Roar Rookie
Waugh is just stakeholders shill. Should’ve gone with mcclown. How about them cutting their bonuses instead of cutting rebels staff?
Guess
Roar Rookie
Yet they had money for the clown and his psychologists
Biscuit man
Roar Rookie
Thinking like that has us in the mess we are in. Less heart and more Brain are needed. It's about market share and support. Volume = $$$$. Canberra has a tiny market share of rugby in this country and hasn't won a trophy in 20 years and prob won't win another in your lifetime.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It’s PWC’s call if the current entity can. RA can say we are going to four. They have ownership of the licence. They could also say they are taking on the player contracts and create a new entity to maintain 5 teams. In that case the previous directors would remain liable for any debts.
Dahl
Roar Rookie
I’ve always quite liked watching my team flog a side unexpectedly. Doesn’t happen often these days of course.
Cam Watts
Roar Rookie
To be honest a lot of Aussie players have looked like they just play for a pay check for a long while now...
Cam Watts
Roar Rookie
I'm not related to Nostradamus Leroy - but I have a feeling you will not be proven wrong
Cam Watts
Roar Rookie
To be honest, after the world cup disaster, do you think playing for the wallabies is really that high on Taniela's priority list? I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of these guys forgo wallabies to earn more money in Japan/Europe. Who wants to continually get belted and pilloried in the press?
Cam Watts
Roar Rookie
Ra have already decided mate - Rebels are DEAD! Bank on it
ScottD
Roar Guru
I disagree , I love it's appeal.
Olly
Roar Rookie
At the moment, that call is PWC call to make. If PWC decide that the Rebels can continue to operate then RA can go down that path. Also this reducing pathways in the game needs to be put to rest. The lack of professional pathways is what holds Rugby back. You must be now realise that loosing an entire team worth of professional will kill the game and reduce the talent pool even further. This dropping a team is nothing more then a sugar hit idea.
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
I think the path is clear in Waughs mind. 5 teams becomes 4.
Olly
Roar Rookie
We love to support a winner in Qld :laughing:
Honest Max
Roar Rookie
Are you a parent with kids that play sport? I am. The professional opportunities available for the best 0.1% of kids plays no part in whether they play one sport or another. Likewise, I never chose to play sports for this reason. The Wallabies I know didn’t choose rugby because of these opportunities. And what pathways does waterpolo have that rugby does not? We cannot have serious discussions about the future of the sport when we have bogus opinions presented as fact.