Super Rugby: A four-point win on Saturday will secure a first-ever finals berth for the Melbourne Rebels
Melbourne Rebels captain Dane Haylett-Petty is a likely starter for what is arguably the biggest match in the club’s young history on Saturday.
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The Melbourne Rebels have lost centre Campbell Magnay for Saturday’s win-and-you’re in final round Super Rugby clash with the Western Force.
But Magnay’s loss could be significantly evened-out with the likely return of captain Dane Haylett-Petty for what is arguably the biggest match in the club’s young history.
A victory by just four points over the Force, the team booted from Super Rugby when Melbourne was allowed to stay in the re-formed competition in 2018, would secure the Rebels a maiden finals berth.
Squandering such opportunities is something the Rebels have been good at, like last year when Melbourne was annihilated 59-8 by the Chiefs in the final round.
Rebels coach Dave Wessels said fullback Haylett-Petty would have played last week “if it was a final”, and after training well on Wednesday the skipper looks to have overcome his knee injury well enough to return for a pre-finals final.
Billy Meakes, who joined the Rebels in 2018, form the Force, and has been there as two finals chances went begging, returns to the starting line-up and said no-one had to be told what’s at stake.
“We’re not trying to build it up too much, but you can’t shy away from how important it is given the result is do-or-die for us,” he said.
“We, just the like Force, have been through a lot in the past few months ... we’ve had a tough time away from home and a lot of boys have made huge sacrifices, and this is the reward.
“It’s something we set out to do from the start of the season, and now we’ve been on the road for so long it would make it more special.
“It’s got to this position the last couple of seasons, and we haven’t wrapped it up. But we’re feeling super confident in the way we are playing.
“We’ve had a ripper week of training, and we can’t wait until Saturday.”
Titans of Tin 💪🾠pic.twitter.com/pBn5pfrs8b
— Melbourne Rebels (@MelbourneRebels) September 2, 2020
The Rebels have been on the road since June, moving from Canberra to Terrigal on the NSW coast, and haven’t played single home game in the 2020 season.
Wessels has said on numerous occasions it would be “remarkable achievement” for the Rebels to win the re-fashioned competition, which ploughed on without the New Zealand teams.
Rebels flyhalf Andrew Deegan says the bond of the players had only strengthened during their everlasting road trip.
He said the carrot of finals, plus the Force’s well-known hatred of the Melbourne outfit, would ensure the Rebels earned their finals spot.
“It’s all in our hands now – we’ve got to win the game, to put it simply.
“If we get that, it puts us into finals, so we’re obviously looking at this game and how important it is to us and what we can do this week to make sure we get that win.
“They’ve tested teams all the way to the end and I think they’re going to throw everything at us. We’ve got to be ready.”
Originally published as Super Rugby: A four-point win on Saturday will secure a first-ever finals berth for the Melbourne Rebels