Super Rugby coach Q&A: Rebels ready for fight of their lives

The Melbourne Rebels are the little club that could, a rugby outpost attacked by NSW and Queensland fans but set to prove the doubters wrong says coach Kevin Foote.

The Melbourne Rebels "Burn Boyz - (L-R) Pone Fa’amausil, Jordan Uelese, Trevor Hosea, Rob Leota

Facing an uncertain future after their club entered into voluntary administration, the Melbourne Rebels really are the embodiment of a team with a cause.

After years of struggling near the bottom of the table, the Rebels have assembled their best squad ever ahead of the upcoming Super Rugby season.

Head coach Kevin Foote told Julian Linden all the players and staff at the Rebels remain adamant professional rugby has a bright future in Melbourne and they intend to prove the doubters wrong.

Julian Linden: How are the coaching staff and players dealing with all the external noise and speculation around the future of the Rebels?

Kevin Foote: We know that we’re going to be around for the 2024 season so we’re just controlling our emotions around what we can control. And that’s playing footy. Our values are to be selfless, prepared, to fight and be invested. In a funny way, it’s a good time to be a leader because people remember you now for what you do in your actions so we’re really leaning hard into those values rather than focusing on what’s happening externally.

JL: How important are the Melbourne Rebels and the state of Victoria to the Australian rugby ecosystem?

KF: It’s huge. Rugby’s actually growing massively here in Melbourne. We’ve got a very strong Pasifika community here that loves rugby. And look at how many boys are coming through and representing the Wallabies. There’s Rob Valetini, who’s a fantastic player, but there’s also Rob Leota, Jordan Uelese, Pone Fa’amausili – all these guys are all coming through Victoria now and it’ll only get stronger and stronger. My vision is to make sure that when the 2027 World Cup rolls around, we’ve got 10 Melbourne boys ready to represent the Wallabies and do a good job and if every state does that, we’ll end up with 50 excellent Wallabies ready to win the World Cup. I’m a massive believer that rugby is going to thrive in Victoria. It just needs the right opportunity.

Captain Rob Leota and coach Kevin Foote

JL: Rob Leota is the first Rebels captain who was born and raised in Melbourne. What sort of a role model is he to up and coming Victorian rugby players?

KF: Rob’s very invested in Melbourne and he’s very invested in the Rebels. It’s like this club is personal to him. He’s a bit of a comedian off the field, always having a laugh, but when he’s on the field, he’s a warrior. I’ve asked him to lead in a similar role to (South Africa captain) Siya Kolisi in that he can be himself off the field and a very charismatic person on the field who leads by his actions.

JL: Despite all the distractions, the Rebels burst out of the blocks last weekend and easily beat the Waratahs. It was only a trial but what sort of confidence did that performance give you?

KF: For us it was a very positive sign by the way we played and for we got minutes into their legs. Over the last few years, we probably haven’t had the depth, especially around trial time, so you probably get a bit nervous in who you rollout and who you don’t know rollout. But massive credit to our medical team and a new head of athletic performance because the boys are just so fit. The improvements we’ve made are quite substantial.

JL: Is the adversity the Rebels are facing bringing out the best in everyone?

KF: One of our values is to fight. We talk about it a lot. And now, more than ever, I know it’s galvanising us. The leaders came to me straight away and said ‘they’ve put us in a corner and now we’re going to stand up to that.”

Melbourne local Pone Fa'amausili.

JL: The Rebels finished second from bottom last season but lost four games by less than seven points or less. How do you turn those results around?

KF: We’ve got to be fitter because you can’t fall off games in the back end so that’s the first thing. The second thing is we’ve put in a performance psychologist – Andrew Waterson, who has worked with the Melbourne Demons and New Zealand rowing. It’s not because guys are fragile, it’s because we want to get our environment right. We want a high care, high challenge environment but the most important thing is how we communicate and execute under pressure.

JL: At the global level, the World Cup is increasingly being won by teams adopting a safety-first game based around kicking. But the Rebels play an exciting brand of attacking rugby with high risk and high rewards. Are you planning to stick with that style?

KF: Our last season review showed definitely that we probably overplayed our hands in certain times but I grew up with Super Rugby and I love Super Rugby. It’s not northern hemisphere rugby and it’s not the World Cup and that’s what makes it such an attractive brand. We play a style that is a bit fearless, but fearless can’t be reckless and we understand that. That’s why (assistant coach) Rob Taylor’s come in to just have a look at what zones we’re not kicking from or what phases we’re not kicking from and how we could probably create more pressure if we didn’t overplay our hand but I can tell you now that if we see opportunity and we’re standing on our goal line, we’ll take it, we’ll go. I give the guys free reign with that.

The Rebels will play attacking footy in 2024.

JL: What potential do you see with this Rebels squad?

KF: I’m not one to talk about wins and championships but I do have a lot of belief in this squad. I believe this is one of the greatest Rebels squads I’ve ever seen. There’s depth, there’s experience. We had eight guys go to the World Cup last year. We had five in Australia A’s, five Australia Under 20s. Without sounding like I’m shouting my mouth off, we want to be the greatest Rebels team of all time.

JL: How have your World Cup players responded after the disappointment of France?

KF: A lot of them asked to come back into our program earlier because they had that break, which is unheard of. Usually the guys are exhausted after a year and I was thinking ‘geez, mentally, are they going to be sort of fatiguing’ but they’ve been excellent. We’ve had a performance psychologist ready for them. We’ve had a program that they’ve been part of building so they’ve really taken that on board.

Carter Gordon

JL: Carter Gordon had a great Super Rugby season last year but not a lot of luck at the World Cup. Are you expecting him to bounce back to his best?

KF: Carter is so stoic. He’s just mature and comfortable in his own skin. He’s an old school sort of guy. I think he’s just chomping at the bit for the opportunity to get back out there and cement his name in the number 10 gold jersey. Carter will not die wondering. He’s physically in a brilliant space. He’s come back exceptionally well, he’s strong, he’s fast. I’m just so blessed and feel so grateful to have Carter on our team.

JL: How has Taniela Tupou settled in after moving to Melbourne from Queensland?

KF: He’s also very charismatic and he loves to laugh but he’s actually got a very deep side of him when it comes to rugby. I know he was particularly upset about the World Cup. When I got to know him a little bit more and we were talking about coming to Melbourne, we understood that his family is very important to him so we wanted to build a community environment they can all enjoy. The thing about Taniela is he’s a protector. He looks after the people around him, whether it’s family or the squad, he protects them.