Smiles and sweat driving Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby finals push as Bulls come to town

Commitment to the cause, inclusiveness and above all enjoyment are the buzz words driving the Rebels this season. All three elements have come to the fore this week ahead of a crunch clash with the Bulls.

The Rebels go into a big match against the Bulls in good heart.

Commitment to the cause, inclusiveness and above all enjoyment are the buzz words driving the Melbourne Rebels this season.

All three elements have come to the fore this week ahead of a crunch home clash with the Bulls and the resulting positivity has reinforced expectations of a better than bold showing.

The commitment was on show from new arrival Matt Toomua, who answered an SOS from Melbourne in the hours after star Rebels fly-half Quade Cooper was concussed last Friday night.

Will Genia will have an important part to play in the Bulls match.

Toomua had to get an early release from English side Leicester to start a contract in Melbourne which runs for the next two seasons.

“I was at dinner with my wife and he (Toomua) was texting me to tell me he’d booked a flight,” Rebels coach Dave Wessels said.

“He landed at 5:30 in the morning on Monday and was in a team meeting at 8am and stayed the whole day.

“He’s exactly the type of player we want in the club, someone who is committed to what we are doing, wants to win, and wants to get better.”

The Rebels players immediately included Toomua, too. He didn’t get to experience the curry club or cookie club, two elements the players are using to remain connected off-field.

But backline star Billy Meakes, the curry club CEO, reached out to Toomua, who will start on the bench against the Bulls, when he needed a fourth for golf on Tuesday.

“He replaced Reece Hodge in our regular four-ball,” Meakes said.

“We’ve all been waiting for him to come. He’s pretty excited to be here. He’s got a wealth of knowledge and to have him and his presence around the group is just great.”

Meakes also outlined how much enjoyment was driving the Rebels, too.

The Rebels go into a big match against the Bulls in good heart.

Expectation followed Melbourne in to 2019 after compiling a star-studded playing list, including the acquisition of Cooper, in the pursuit of a maiden finals berth.

Five wins in the first seven games suggested those expectations weren’t misplaced. But three straight losses followed, including a home defeat to the Stormers to give the Rebels a 0-3 record against South African teams this season.

A return to the winners’ list last week however came after another reminder from Wessels that his player’s best rugby would come through the enjoyment of what they were doing, plus a fair bit of hard work.

“We feel like we have come on in leaps and bounds the last couple of weeks … really started to find our identity again as a team,” Meakes said.

“And this week has been enjoyable. We’ve had some lighthearted meetings, some serious ones, and training has been great.

“We’ve always got the music pumping out there, smiles on faces, and collectively as a group right throughout the year we have just been having fun.

“We are feeling close, nice and connected and really enjoying ourselves.

“And if we are playing the style of rugby we want to play and paying it well, we feel like we would be pretty hard to beat.”

Originally published as Smiles and sweat driving Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby finals push as Bulls come to town