Brought to you by Brick Lane Brewing, Rebel on Tour gives fans a fresh look at what our Melbourne Rebels are getting up to whilst away on tour.
This week’s guest is our electrifying young flanker Jeral Skelton.
How crazy has your second month with the club been?
Yeah, it’s been a pretty crazy few weeks moving from different locations, especially without or being away from my family but I have a lot of family in Brisbane, so actually it wasn’t that different to being in Melbourne to be honest! But it’s been really awesome being around all the boys and stuff – really good culture and atmosphere and it’s been good getting that chance to get close with the players.
Who’s been your tour roommate?
My roommate is Brad Wilkin and he’s awesome helping me out with lots of stuff around plays and stuff like that, because we both play similar positions.
We watch a few movies, but the problem is we always end up spending way too much time searching for one and then end up getting too tired to actually watch it. So, most of the time we’ll either fall asleep or just settle on picking something we’ve already seen!
MVP of the tour so far?
For me Trevor (Hosea) having been around him a lot – he’s a real funny character.
What did you get up to during the Rebels bye week?
When we got back to Canberra, I ended up going and playing a bit of golf with all the boys like Trevor, Esei (Ha‘angana) and Rob Leota. We went and played par 3 golf which is not a full golf course, but still really good. It was really fun, even though Trevor only used putters and Esei was just no good! Although I suppose he’s still learning the game and Glen was probably just as bad. Rob Leota could probably play professionally – he’s really, really good.
Away from the paddock, I hear you have a big passion for creating music on your laptop?
Yeah, I’ve been doing it for a long time now – I used to do it all the time with my brothers.
I play around with Garage Band which is an app on the iMac, where you can just play around and mix music. It’s something that I find I really enjoy and helps keep my mind off footy and unwind. It’s very time consuming – I can sometimes be doing it for a whole day – but I just enjoy making my own music.
I don’t sing or anything – I like choosing the beats and remixing different stuff.
But for me, basketball is the best thing to get away from rugby – I usually go out and shoot hoops by myself and get my mind off the game. It helps me feel comfortable and clear the mind. I enjoy it a lot.
Coincidently, some of the boys were showing off their basketball skills on social media over the past week – if there was a Melbourne Rebels basketball draft, who would you take with the first pick and why?
Yeah, I’ve played with a few of the boys in the team, so probably Rob Leota. Esei does have the height, so he can make up for anything. Maybe I’d go Glen – nah that’s a stitch up. He’s probably the worst of all us boys! He definitely wasn’t invented to play basketball - the air ball king!
Finish this sentence: If I was the game day DJ, I would play…
Chris Brown – he’s my favourite artist. I’d play his old stuff anywhere.
Do you have a message for everyone following you back in Melbourne?
I know I’ve only been with Rebels for a month but I just wish all our fans and everyone back in Melbourne, that you’re all keeping safe and well. We’re all out here thinking of you, working hard and representing the city and we all really appreciate your support.
