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Melbourne Rebels 2024

eastman

eastman

Arch Winning (36)
upthereds#! said:
Canham is hardly a good starter yet (but I like him) Losing BOTH Philip and Hosea is bad. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is a good replacement for either one of them, not both. Net loss here.


Losing the 2nd choice no.7 and 1st choice no.8 in Hardwick. Ekuasi was a surprise find but who will be Wilkins backup? If Wilkins needs resting, is Hough (unsighted in 2023) the next man up? Net loss here.

Orr: Losing a good LHP and gaining a THP prop is not a straight forward switch. Eloff will need to dedicate to the LHP to make this a net gain. There is no point holding the TH side strong if the LH side is getting rolled.

Ioane for Lancaster is not like for like. Brumbies maintained a strong team with 3 smaller outside backs, so yes so could the Rebels, but the Brumbies had strong centres and the Rebels just got weaker losing Hodge. Ili (12) and Riply (13) will really need to punch hard to give the back 3 some room. Losing Hodge and Ioane and replacing them with Lancaster? A net loss here also.


Just saw Rebels got Matt Proctor, this makes a difference and a positive one. Not a net gain across centres and OBs, but no longer a loss. Losing Hodge isn't great, but Proctor offers more of whats needed in that 13 channel.
Click to expand...
Proctor is an upgrade on Hodge at 13 - good signing.
 
KevinO

KevinO

Geoff Shaw (53)
upthereds#! said:
Canham is hardly a good starter yet (but I like him) Losing BOTH Philip and Hosea is bad. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is a good replacement for either one of them, not both. Net loss here.


Losing the 2nd choice no.7 and 1st choice no.8 in Hardwick. Ekuasi was a surprise find but who will be Wilkins backup? If Wilkins needs resting, is Hough (unsighted in 2023) the next man up? Net loss here.

Orr: Losing a good LHP and gaining a THP prop is not a straight forward switch. Eloff will need to dedicate to the LHP to make this a net gain. There is no point holding the TH side strong if the LH side is getting rolled.

Ioane for Lancaster is not like for like. Brumbies maintained a strong team with 3 smaller outside backs, so yes so could the Rebels, but the Brumbies had strong centres and the Rebels just got weaker losing Hodge. Ili (12) and Riply (13) will really need to punch hard to give the back 3 some room. Losing Hodge and Ioane and replacing them with Lancaster? A net loss here also.


Just saw Rebels got Matt Proctor, this makes a difference and a positive one. Not a net gain across centres and OBs, but no longer a loss. Losing Hodge isn't great, but Proctor offers more of whats needed in that 13 channel.
Click to expand...
Agree with a lot, but Orr barely made the 23 this year, so not a big loss. Hodge being replaced by Proctor is even with plus/negative.

Not a huge Philip fan, so replaced by LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is a win for squad. Philip is quite arrogant and rubs team mates the wrong way, also our lineout works a lot better without him calling.

Hardwick is coverable with Leota returning, but still a 7 breakdown specialist would be good.

Hosea is the biggest loss.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
upthereds#! said:
Canham is hardly a good starter yet (but I like him) Losing BOTH Philip and Hosea is bad. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is a good replacement for either one of them, not both. Net loss here.


Losing the 2nd choice no.7 and 1st choice no.8 in Hardwick. Ekuasi was a surprise find but who will be Wilkins backup? If Wilkins needs resting, is Hough (unsighted in 2023) the next man up? Net loss here.

Orr: Losing a good LHP and gaining a THP prop is not a straight forward switch. Eloff will need to dedicate to the LHP to make this a net gain. There is no point holding the TH side strong if the LH side is getting rolled.

Ioane for Lancaster is not like for like. Brumbies maintained a strong team with 3 smaller outside backs, so yes so could the Rebels, but the Brumbies had strong centres and the Rebels just got weaker losing Hodge. Ili (12) and Riply (13) will really need to punch hard to give the back 3 some room. Losing Hodge and Ioane and replacing them with Lancaster? A net loss here also.


Just saw Rebels got Matt Proctor, this makes a difference and a positive one. Not a net gain across centres and OBs, but no longer a loss. Losing Hodge isn't great, but Proctor offers more of whats needed in that 13 channel.
Click to expand...
Based on Monty’s performances this year we won’t miss him.

Orr is most definitely surplus.

Hardwick is hard to replace I agree. Leota and Ekuasi should do more than fine at the back.

Philip/Hosea is hard too, Hosea was starting to show promise but has definitely been outshone this year by Canham. Salakai-Loto is a great get.

Rebels with Salakai-Loto, Proctor, Tupou, a fit Leota and hopefully an impactful Lancaster will be better than their 2023 version.
 
Highlander35

Highlander35

Andrew Slack (58)
If everyone from last year not formally released is re-signed, this is roughly what we look like before further signings.

First XV​
Reserves/2nd XV​
Squaddies​
Matt GibbonIsaac Aedo KaileaCabous Eloff
Jordan UeleseAlex MafiAnaru Rangi
Taniela TupouPone Fa'amausiliSam Talakai
Lukhan Salakai-LotoAngelo Smith
Josh CanhamTuaina Taii Tualima
Josh KemenyDaniel Maiava
Brad WilkinZac Hough
Rob LeotaVaolani EkuasiLeafi Talataina
Ryan LouwrensJames Tuttle
Carter GordonNick Jooste
Darby LancasterJoe Pincus
Stacey IliLucas RipleyDivad Palu
Matt ProctorDavid VaihuDavid Feliuai
Lachie AndersonGlen Vaihu
Andrew KellawayMason Gordon
 
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Dctarget

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
Vaiolini Ekuasi was signed from the Blues as injury cover for Leota and has been the find of the season.

Blues have just released a bunch of players and we could do worse than go sorting through their trash...

locks Taine Plummer (of John), James Tucker would be handy.
 
Members Section

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
Dctarget said:
Vaiolini Ekuasi was signed from the Blues as injury cover for Leota and has been the find of the season.

Blues have just released a bunch of players and we could do worse than go sorting through their trash...

locks Taine Plummer (of John), James Tucker would be handy.
Click to expand...

have any got an aus grandparent?
 
Wallaby Man

Wallaby Man

Trevor Allan (34)
Members Section said:
have any got an aus grandparent?
Click to expand...
Pretty sure Tucker is eligible via residency, grew up in Aus before moving back and also had a stint at Brums. Would be a solid 3rd, 4th option if willing to come on not much. Although I don’t think the locks are shockingly bad. The issue is the high end quality not the depth. Maiava is a solid locking depth option and highly rated although currently slated as a 6. Very much in that Aus lock/6 hybrid we seem to have plenty of.
 
stoff

stoff

Bill McLean (32)
Dctarget said:
interesting that they haven’t officially announced Proctor. Normally Rebels are the first to break their own news.
Click to expand...
1687484833763.png

Looks like they were trying do a big reveal.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
Wilson said:
Lima Sopoaga maybe? Not enough tries in super rugby though, unless that is overall tries
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He scored 12 tries for Northampton, another 11 for Hurricanes, 1 for NZ, so 24 which 20+ describes aptly. Played 63 Hurricanes games, sounding warmer and warmer.
 
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