Melbourne Rebels unsure if Chiefs game the last hurrah for embattled club
Melbourne don't know if Friday's Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Chiefs will be their last ever home game, but they intend playing like it is to cement a maiden finals berth.
The future of the cash-strapped club in the competition remains uncertain beyond 2024 as they await a decision from Rugby Australia.
Rebels winger Lachie Anderson said the team hadn't spoken about the match possibly being their last at AAMI Park, but it was still part of the build-up.
"It probably is the elephant in the room - the uncertainty, we're dealing with things that no other Super Rugby club is at the moment," he said.
"We've dealt with it for 13 weeks now and it's no different this week.
"You're not short of motivation; we realise the opportunity to play at home is massive for us, and we understand what a win would do for us and the program.
"Everyone would like to know (about the future) but I think the staff and players are doing an incredible job of focusing on the rugby and it probably gives us good relief from the external stuff."
The Rebels currently sit sixth on the ladder and need a win from their remaining three matches to cement a maiden play-off position.
They have away matches against the Brumbies (2nd) and Fijian Drua (8th) to come.
They head into the clash with the fourth-placed Chiefs on the back of three losses, most recently losing a tight battle with Queensland.
The Chiefs have won their last three matches and are desperate for another crack at the title after losing the grand final last year to the Crusaders.
Anderson said the team spoke regularly about leaving a legacy as the most successful Rebels team in the club's history.
"It's important - we as players want to write history here, we want to leave a legacy behind and leave the place in a better position than when we started," said the 26-year-old, who was part of the sevens team at the Tokyo Olympics.
"We have the opportunity to play finals footy, which no Rebels team have ever done, so that's what our target is.
"We speak about it a lot, it's definitely a goal of ours."
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They also use a far more consistent scale.
Rugby pass seem to have a different scale for each player based on the authors expectations or how much he likes them.
Can't fathom how Moodie and Reece both were a 3.
Go to commentsYes for sure, thanks for sharing. I fully understand that both parties are better off, no one needs to lose, neither competition suffers, in fact both can be better as a result.
Too many true rugby fans (and analysts) don't understand that.
I wouldn't imagine there is a date aye. It was a long decline rugby in SA and Australia was going through, and was so bad it even effected NZ, caused them to argue to can a couple of teams. The nation of SA probably grew into it? I know I watch more of the NH now specifically because of the SR teams playing there. I actually had to mention to Nick Bishop (because of his stubborn perspective) the other day that I've never been a fan of Super Rugby, I don't think they chose the right way to go about professionalism back in 1995. Unfortunately, NZR was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because it had SA's and Australians that ran their unions by States, so we had to separate into "two or three" teams as a result. Our game is in the kak now because of it, they want to kill off the lifeblood of our National Provincial Championship. But now we might see a way out of it, so it's all good.
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