Melbourne Rebels enter voluntary administration in desperate bid for survival

The Melbourne Rebels have entered into voluntary administration as the debt-ridden Super Rugby club continues its desperate bid to survive past this year.

Executives from the Rebels called in insolvency firm Wexted Advisors on Thursday as the collapse was confirmed by the state government and a senior rugby source not authorised to speak publicly.

The Melbourne Rebels entered into voluntary administration on Thursday. Credit: Getty

The club, which the source said has debts amounting to around $9 million, formally entered into voluntary administration on Thursday afternoon.

The Rebels owe millions of dollars to the Australian Taxation Office and about $1 million in fees for use of AAMI Park stadium, managed by the state government’s Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust.

The Rebels were contacted for comment, but did not respond. Rugby Australia declined to comment on the matter.

The state government wouldn’t comment on the shape of any potential financial support, but confirmed they were aware the club had entered into voluntary administration.

“The Melbourne Rebels are an important member of Victoria’s sporting landscape which helps pack our calendar with professional sport fixtures and major events, providing lasting benefits for the state’s visitor economy,” a Victorian government spokesperson said.

The dire state of the club calls into question the Victorian government’s hopes of hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup final.

The state government has previously bailed out the Rebels. In 2017, the then-Andrews government entered into a $20 million deal with Rugby Australia to secure the Bledisloe Cup and British and Irish Lions Test matches in Melbourne over an eight-to-10-year period.

That deal ensured the Melbourne team would be retained in the Super Rugby competition.

The revelation comes just a day after Rugby Australia refused to guarantee it would provide financial assistance to the Melbourne club past this Super Rugby season.

World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin told this masthead that Melbourne would still be in the running to host the Rugby World Cup final even if it didn’t have a professional team in the city.

“It is, because it is a great sporting destination, a great host city. They are spoiled for wonderful facilities in Melbourne, as are Sydney and many parts of Australia,” he said.

“We know Super Rugby clubs have had challenges and we know Rugby Australia are trying to address that, and we want to support that in any way we can.

“We are obviously a stakeholder and an investor in Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika and are very interested in the success of Super Rugby more generally, as a platform for the sport to thrive in this part of the world. But World Cup hosting is disassociated to that, essentially.”

On Wednesday, the sporting body said it would only commit to supporting the Rebels for this year, claiming that any long-term decisions were dependent on whether the team was contributing to a “sustainable future for the game”.

The team was again the focus of scrutiny this week amid reports of the deepening financial strife its key sponsor BRC Capital – whose chairman Paul Docherty also chairs the Rebels – is facing. Ten of the investment company’s businesses have collapsed in the past two months.

The Rebels met Rugby Australia officials on Wednesday after the sporting body instructed the club to call in independent financial advisors to present what options they had moving forward.

Asked whether Rugby Australia would help the club pay its millions of dollars in debt, a spokesperson said: “RA and the Rebels are currently awaiting a report from the Rebels’ financial advisors. Following the receipt of this report RA will evaluate the best, and most appropriate course of action.

“RA is committed to exploring ways to build long-term viability for the professional game in Victoria. Any future decisions need to ensure the Rebels are contributing to a sustainable future for the game, and we want to see Melbourne as part of that future.”.

Rebels chair Docherty was the subject of news stories this week, prompted by an article from the Australian Financial Review, which revealed on Tuesday that one of those companies, dental supplier SmileStyler, was the subject of an administrator’s report that revealed a litany of problems.

When concerns over the Rebels’ future were raised in December, club boss Baden Stephenson told this masthead the financial problems were solvable, and that the issues were not unique to the club, but a broader problem across Super Rugby’s five Australian teams.

He pointed to a cut in funding from Rugby Australia due to COVID-19 and the return of Western Force, which reduced the money given to each club from $5.5 million a year to $3.9 million.

He also confirmed that talks had broken down for Rugby Australia to take control of the Rebels.

“We very much were open to having a conversation around the centralisation of the commercial assets of our club. We had one brief conversation … those conversations have ceased for the moment, I don’t think it’s a major priority for Rugby Australia,” he said.

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