Rebels 2014

[thierry dusautoir]

Ebersohn's goal kicking in particular is leagues ahead of Hegarty and that's what is making him a good player for the Force right now. Bringing Holmes in has also increased competition for that jersey.

Wallabies get squeezed out of Super Rugby sides that are improving every year because the team becomes too expensive to keep together. The Rebels shouldn't break the bank trying to recruit someone like Leali'ifano, but if the salary was reasonable, they'd be crazy not too look at him.

Hegarty is nowhere near good enough to be a sacred cow at the Rebels and more competition can only be a good thing. The backups are Roberts who ever Rebel fan thinks is terrible and Debrecszeni who is uncapped and has only really played one year of first grade club rugby.

Agreed. But Hegarty isn't the sacred cow I speak of, Debrezcni is the rebels future and I bet my bottom dollar on him being the rebels backline general in years to come. It may seem unfounded however his skills in Shute Shield last year where impressive, and I think a professional S&C program will do him wonders.

P.s whats the status of his injury?

 

[Braveheart81]

Agreed. But Hegarty isn't the sacred cow I speak of, Debrezcni is the rebels future and I bet my bottom dollar on him being the rebels backline general in years to come. It may seem unfounded however his skills in Shute Shield last year where impressive, and I think a professional S&C program will do him wonders.

P.s whats the status of his injury?

Debreczeni is expected to be available in 1-2 weeks.

I get what you're saying and agree that you could be right in years to come but one decent season at West Harbour makes it a pretty foolish thing to bank on and a long term plan as far as professional sport is concerned.

Look at the Tahs and Dave Horwitz. He is a year younger than Debreczeni and had a similar (but probably slightly inferior) season to last year in Shute Shield. He is nowhere near being a reasonable proposition to start Super Rugby games.

What if the Rebels stick with Hegarty and Debreczeni and find out in a few years time that whilst decent, neither of them are that amazing and they've hamstrung their side by banking on players in a key position who are never going to be stars?

If Leali'ifano is a Rebel in 2015 and 2016 (or another fly half) it really shouldn't delay Debreczeni's development. It may even improve it.

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Debreczeni is expected to be available in 1-2 weeks.

I get what you're saying and agree that you could be right in years to come but one decent season at West Harbour makes it a pretty foolish thing to bank on and a long term plan as far as professional sport is concerned.

Look at the Tahs and Dave Horwitz. He is a year younger than Debreczeni and had a similar (but probably slightly inferior) season to last year in Shute Shield. He is nowhere near being a reasonable proposition to start Super Rugby games.

What if the Rebels stick with Hegarty and Debreczeni and find out in a few years time that whilst decent, neither of them are that amazing and they've hamstrung their side by banking on players in a key position who are never going to be stars?

If Leali'ifano is a Rebel in 2015 and 2016 (or another fly half) it really shouldn't delay Debreczeni's development. It may even improve it.

Thing is the outlay for these two's rookie contract is far less than the outlay of Lealifano's so cap space wouldn't be an issue. However if Lealifano was brought in at the expense of renewing Inman or Woodward's contract and then went down injured. The rebels would be in a lot more strife.

Besides if Debrezcni does turn out decent I believe his kicking (which is close to his greatest strength) will offset any ball inhand or creative deficiencies (like ebersohn). But it is quite a conundrum Melbourne have and it will be interesting to see what path they take going forward. But as we have both pointed out each avenue has it's pitfalls.

 

[Highlander35]

Bring in Lilo and BOD.

9. Stirzacker
10. Lilo
11. English
12. Inman
13. BOD
14. Kingston
15. Woodward

21. Burgess
22. Hegarty
23. Sau/Mitchell/Veainu etc.

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[en_force_er]

Signing Lilo won't delay anyone's future, he'll play plenty of 12. Infact, he may even start there because Inman goes fine at 13.

 

[Tex]

Bring in Lilo and BOD.

9. Stirzacker
10. Lilo
11. English
12. Inman
13. BOD
14. Kingston
15. Woodward

21. Burgess
22. Hegarty
23. Sau/Mitchell/Veainu etc.

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Ha that would be epic.

 

[Tomikin]

Let's put this in perspective, Lealifano is 27 this year and will be 28 next year. So odds are the very best the Rebels could hope for is to have him for 2-3 years and he isn't really a chance for the 2019 world cup so he would probably want to cash in now why his body is still somewhat good. Your expecting the Rebels to fork out enough to keep him for those 2-3 years while at the same time being able to finance all the contracts the rebels will have to renew in that time for their rising stars and bring in suitable recruits to play with him.

Now all this is based on his 2012 form where he played 12 games at most, in a position which he hasn't played much of since his injury. To cap it off he hasn't shown nearly the same level of form since then. Yet people are insisting the smart investment would be to break bank to buy him, when for the same price we could develop 3 flyhalves, one of which we definitely know is serviceable.

Not to taking anything away from Christian he is a solid player, but I think the rebels would be foolish to invest heavily in him. The Force are a testament to what a serviceable distributor can do when everyone around him is firing, so I don't see when the rebels can't work off the same model with their young team.

The force also have Alby Matterson at 9 doing alot of there play making..
The fact Lealifanio is on the bench and wants to play in a world cup I dont think he would cost alot so maybe not breaking the bank.. I also think his not a money chaser its not in his character.

I also think your 5/8 would learn a hell of a lot from him. But if your willing to be also runs for the next 3 - 4 years, then by all means skip on him. No one wins a super rugby comp with out a great 10 or 9.. you have good 9's and okay 10's..

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[Tex]

Great news with Sean McMahon signing with the Rebels until the end of 2016.

He's been a promising recruit and I'm stoked to see him commit to the club.

http://melbournerebels.com.au/news/article/rabodirect-rebels-re-sign-talented-youngster

 

[Deputy Van Halen]

That's fantastic news, he's obviously a talent and Colby's only on a 1 year contract so it's good to cover that base just in case.

Hopefully they don't overcook him by rushing him in to S15 early but he certainly looks up to the level so far.

 

[KevinO]

That's fantastic news, he's obviously a talent and Colby's only on a 1 year contract so it's good to cover that base just in case.

Hopefully they don't overcook him by rushing him in to S15 early but he certainly looks up to the level so far.

Colby took that 1 year deal to try put himself in contention against the big 3 number 7's in the market and it might have back fired. At the moment he would be down the list in who to chase for next season.

 

[en_force_er]

So what's our opinion on this Sam Jefferies guy? Worth a shot in the top squad next year?

With both Pyle and Thompson gone, you'd say he's virtually ensured of a spot if he's shown any promise. Good position to be in for the young lad.

 

[KevinO]

So what's our opinion on this Sam Jefferies guy? Worth a shot in the top squad next year?

With both Pyle and Thompson gone, you'd say he's virtually ensured of a spot if he's shown any promise. Good position to be in for the young lad.

He looked good in Geelong, will be interesting to see if he gets any game time. Neville can't even get some minutes at the moment.

 

[oztimmay]

Fox news tonight - TT says the Rebels are looking a To'omua, Lilo and even Mikey Harris. To'omua would be a very intersting proposition, however I think we have more chance at snagging Lilo. Whilst we may throug all the kitchen sinks at Lilo, the Ponies will surely do the same for To'omua.

Mikey would be an interesting outside chance, but think he will stay a Red.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/video?v=rebels-re-sign-mcmahon_1226887030751&vc=-1

 

[tranquility]

You could argue that Lloyd Johanssen blazed that trail first. Played juniors down here, went the southport school to further develop. Eventually QLD and wallabies jeserys, O/S for a bit then back to the rebels. Post that he's played for Box Hill and now Quins.

He is the biggest; coulda, woulda, shoulda I can remember.

Damn shame.

 

[oztimmay]

He is the biggest; coulda, woulda, shoulda I can remember.

Damn shame.

This didn't really help his case. Wonder if it was ever discussed whilst they were teammates at the Rebels

Certainly a highlight was that Wallaby meat vs the All Blacks after 30sec on the ground.

 

[Deputy Van Halen]

Fox news tonight - TT says the Rebels are looking a To'omua, Lilo and even Mikey Harris. To'omua would be a very intersting proposition, however I think we have more chance at snagging Lilo. Whilst we may throug all the kitchen sinks at Lilo, the Ponies will surely do the same for To'omua.

Mikey would be an interesting outside chance, but think he will stay a Red.

As much as I would like to see To'omua down here I very much doubt it, he seems to be very loyal to the brumbies. The Lilo rumour isn't going away and seems almost logical, Lilo, Aussie Mike and Inman would be a pretty solid midfield and exponentially improve our fairly woeful kicking. We need to remember that Ellison is very likely back to NZ at the end of the season too.

 

[tranquility]

Aussy Mike could be quite likely, we we will have to lose either he or Taps this year. I don't think anyone at the Reds would want to lose Taps if it can be avoided, although he did play junior Rugby in Melbourne. Not a 10 though, so moot.

 

[Tex]

How's To'omua's goal kicking? He's the golden goose for either team - poster boy, well spoken, great player and not a show pony. I'd love him down here.

Aussie Mike is a pretty straight down the line player, does the small things well and kicks like a metronome. He'd be ok outside of a creative 5/8 but I reckon him and Inman in the centres would lack a bit of spark. Out of those three names I wouldn't be cheering if he was the one who came south.

 

[199madmave]

Colby took that 1 year deal to try put himself in contention against the big 3 number 7's in the market and it might have back fired. At the moment he would be down the list in who to chase for next season.

Wouldn't be in my top 5 number 7's and he certainly isn't a number 6.

 

[RugbyReg]

I reckon Mike's a fair chance. However Richard Graham obviously likes him a great deal however and we don't have much backup to Quade, but a lot of those class of 2011 will be cut this year.