Melbourne Rebels taking 'ruthless' approach into new season as they look to close games out

SCOTT Fuglistaller has declared a new "ruthless" Rebels will emerge in 2014, eliminating the "soft underbelly" of past seasons.

Fuglistaller had a strong debut season with the Rebels in 2013.

FLANKER Scott Fuglistaller has declared a new "ruthless" Melbourne Rebels will emerge this season, eliminating the "soft underbelly" of previous Super Rugby campaigns.

The Rebels enjoyed a solid trial game win against NSW Waratahs at the weekend and will be looking to repeat the effort against the Hurricanes at Geelong's Simonds Stadium on Saturday night.

Fuglistaller said the win over the Waratahs was the first step towards developing a new winning culture at Melbourne.

"I think there is more of a hard edge about us this year," he said.

"In past years there has always been a bit of a soft underbelly, but this year we are aiming to be a lot more ruthless and finish teams off.

"We probably could have done that better (on Saturday), but it was a first step.

"Moving on I think that will grow and get better."

New coach Tony McGahan is determined to develop a mentally strong side that has the ability to close out matches.

It is why game simulation and high pressure situations have been a key focus during the pre-season.

"Between Tony and the trainers, we do what is called 'worst case scenarios' at training," Fuglistaller said.

"So it is about being placed in the hardest possible situations at training.

"You're doing things at a harder pace so that when it comes to game time, it's recognisable and easier.

The Kiwi backrower said the new training regime would help the club in an area that was an issue last season.

"Just mid-training he (McGahan) might throw a scenario up and you have to get to that spot and play like you would in a game," he said.

"I think that's what we missed a little bit last year.

"We got in situations where we were winning in games but couldn't put teams away.

"We failed to cross the line a lot, and that's one of our biggest changes."

Alls Black centre Tamati Ellison has been named for Saturday's clash after arriving in Melbourne following his Japanese club commitments.

While former Sydney University lock Sam Jeffries has also been named to make his club debut.

With temperatures again tipped to reach 40C, McGahan will heavily rotate his players throughout the course of the match.

Fuglistaller said the side's self belief was high after last weekend's encouraging result.

"They (the Waratahs) had a lot of their big stars playing and we dominated for long periods of the game," he said.

"That's momentum we are looking to take in this week.

"I've heard the Hurricanes are playing their All Blacks in the second half, so it will be a good test for us."

Melbourne Rebels squad: Jason Woodward, Tom Kingston, Tom English, Mitch Inman, Telusa Veainu, Bryce Hegarty, Luke Burgess; Lopeti Timani, Sean McMahon, Jordy Reid, Luke Jones, Hugh Pyle, Laurie Weeks, Pat Leafa, Max Lahiff, Alex Rokobaro, Lachlan Mitchell, Tamati Ellison, Lalakai Foketi, Joe Kamana, Ben Meehan, Scott Higginbotham, Scott Fuglistaller, Colby Fainga'a, Sam Jeffries, Paul Alo-Emile, Steve Faulau, Toby Smith