Australia’s Super Rugby surprise packet ready to ride the emotional rollercoaster of a wild season

Australian rugby’s surprise packets, the Melbourne Rebels, are chasing the perfect game on the back of their breakthrough victory over the Highlanders on Friday.

Tom English of the Rebels (right) celebrates a try during the Round 3 Super Rugby match between the Melbourne Rebels and the Highlanders at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Friday, March 1, 2019. (AAP Image/Daniel Pockett) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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The Melbourne Rebels are prepared to ride the rollercoaster this year in the pursuit of a perfect game which for coach Dave Wessels is about “having a go”.

Friday night’s take-down of the Highlanders was the Rebels first win over a New Zealand side in Melbourne since 2015 and underlined the team’s growing credentials.

It was a win mixed by magic ball handling from fly half Quade Cooper that helped produce tries, but two no-look passes at crucial times also led to interceptions.

Rebels players celebrate their drought-breaking win over the Highlanders. Picture: AAP

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But there was also a much-needed level of defensive resilience and capacity to still be going strong in the 80th minute.

Extra conditioning work was programmed over the summer to enable the Rebels to play the fast, flat, go-forward type of rugby that Wessels wants to be his team’s trademark.

“The athletics performance department have done a great job just in giving us the ability to play at a higher tempo for longer periods of the game,” Wessels said.

“We understand our game a lot better than we did this time last year so we have been able to develop a conditioning program that suits the way we want to play. It gives us the capacity to play that for 80 minutes.

Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels is pushing his team to the limits. Picture: AAP

“One of the things with our game is we do want to play attacking rugby and we want to have a go at different times, and it’s not always going to work, not only for Quade but for the entire team.

“There is a time to do that with the momentum of the game is with you and a time not to do that, and maybe that’s something we need to think about that a little bit.”

This year the Rebels aren’t afraid of hard work either, and if the preparation for this Friday’s clash with the Brumbies is the same as last week, Wessels won’t be disappointed.

“Last weekend we had the weekend off, the only one in a very long time, and on Saturday morning I came in and (lock) Matt Philips was looking at lineouts, there were a couple of players in there, coaches in there,” he said.

“There is no such thing as luck in sport, there is inputs and there are outcomes. I think our team prepped hard, and we are changing the environment in terms of what’s expected in that area. We are trying to be the best version of ourselves.”