Rebels 2015

[Highlander35]

Reckon something like:

15. Crawford
14. Shippers/Kingston
13. Ellison
12. Aussie Mike
11. English
10. Hegarty
9. Stirzaker
8. Higgenbotham
7. Fainga'a
6. McMahon
5. Jones
4. Neville
3. Weeks
2. Horie
1. Smith

16. Sexton/Leafa
17. Cruze
18. PAE
19. *
20. *
21. Burgess
22. #
23. #

* = Jeffries, Cummins, Samo, Fuglistaller, Reid, Timani
# = Debreczeni, Inman, Sefa, Jonah, Telusa

 

[oztimmay]

My all-time 15:

1. Hendo
2. Ged
3. Weeks
4. Jones
5. Pyle
6. Higgers
7. Fugs
8. Delve
9. Phipps
10. Hegarty
11. Vuna
12. Ellison
13. Mortlock
14. Gerrard
15. Woodward

Tough to leave Neville on the bench, he gives so much but Luke has a little more versatility for different positions (say, higgers does another hammy). With that booming kick it was hard to leave Gerrard out of the 15. As others mentioned I wanted a ball-playing 12.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think ILTW has harshly marked Crawford as well. He was injury backup at Wallabies level so would be expected to be more than that at Super level. But he was with the Brumbies for a couple of years and never really got a look in. Unfortunate in my books as I've always regarded him highly.

 

[I like to watch]

The Brumbies let him go with a year left on his contract...
2013 Cam was much much better than 2014 version.
Hopefully the 2013 version goes to the Rebels.

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I hope Cam has a great year ... as I do for JOC (James O'Connor) , Pocock , Fardy , Moore etc we need to hope everyone in Australia lifts their game in the year of the RWC , I want Cheika to have a real headache when it comes to picking his 32 and I don't particularly care which state they come from .

 

[Slim 293]

My all-time 15:

1. Hendo

Really?

Over Somerville and Smith?

 

[oztimmay]

Really?

Over Somerville and Smith?

15 game minimum. Otherwise I'd have Smith.

 

[Tex]

Smith should be a RWC smoky.

 

[Bobby Sands]

Sexton was captain of Irish Schools & maybe also the Irish U20s? He has family in Melbourne. Sounds like a great buy.

 

[oztimmay]

Sexton was captain of Irish Schools & maybe also the Irish U20s? He has family in Melbourne. Sounds like a great buy.

Was born in Melbourne too...

 

[Deputy Van Halen]

Rebels have signed Rams prop Jed Gillespie to EPS:
http://melbournerebels.com.au/news/article/jed-gillespie-signs-for-the-rebels

Can't remember him at all from the the NRC, I only vaguely the rams front row getting toweled at times but that was with Fatcat and Paddy I think. He's still young for a prop at 22 so could be a good prospect.

 

[oztimmay]

Didn't really get a look at him in the NRC. Any of you Rams fans got an opinion of him (Pfitzy I'm looking at your as a start). But worried that Fatcat is teaching him how to prop We certainly have a lot of props on the books (Smith, Weeks, Ah Nau, PAE, Meecher, Sa'aga Gillespie) - no depth issues there.

 

[Rob]

Stallwart of Eastwood rugby.

Couple of links below

 

[Deputy Van Halen]

At 1:50 in the first video he does a flick pass out the back of the hands. Sold!

Seems to have good hands and a turn of pace for a prop at least, scrummaging will be another thing at soup level.

 

[Tex]

Sekope Kepu is confirmed as leaving Aus after RWC. Another reason why PAE should have stuck around, done his graft and worked towards the Wallabies for another year or two.

 

[Highlander35]

What's that, 35 players? Potentially 1 more left, international or otherwise. Ah well, looks like another reasonable signing.

 

[swingpass]

nice article on the website, regarding the halves.

interesting bit about Meehan being tried at 10

http://melbournerebels.com.au/news/article/the-contenders-1-scrumhalf

 

[Highlander35]

Gives a little bit more depth to the stand offs, given we've really only got 3, could also give him more game time at both Soup and NRC levels, if Nicky is a future captain.

 

[Average Outside Center]

i think Stirzaker has a bit more upside compared to Meehan but i like the fact that Meehan can use both feet to kick our way out of trouble. Also who can you see starting at 10. Harris? Jack D? Hegarty?

 

[swingpass]

i really like Meehan, i think he will ultimately be better than Stirzaker, because of his better kicking game.
i hope they go with Debreczeni at 10, although i think Hegarty has been pretty good for the Rebels in the past couple of years. His pop gun kicks limit his effectiveness at 10 and 15, i wonder whether he could make a real good 12, he can pass, can step and is a dynamic tackler.