To our Melbourne Rebels family,
It has been a very long 12 months for everyone here at the Club – our team, our staff , our supportive partners, our members and our fans, as we have had to endure a season like no other.
It was because of this wait that I could sense an anticipation level for our first home game unlike any other year – both amongst you and also amongst our playing squad. Everyone just can’t wait for a return to the Stockade.
Unfortunately, despite significant efforts from our team, and everyone behind the scenes, that wait is going to have to be just a little longer. Due to border restrictions that currently exist between WA and Victoria, the team’s ability to travel to Perth in Round 4 is currently compromised based on the current fixture.
Therefore, to ensure the integrity of the competition and that the season proceeds as planned, the decision has been made to swap our home game with the Brumbies.
Our home game currently scheduled for Round 3 against the Brumbies on Saturday March 6 will be swapped with the Brumbies and will now take place in Round 9 in Melbourne on Sunday April 18.
I appreciate that this change of schedule is not ideal, and can assure you we worked very hard to look at all options that would avoid such a change.
Ultimately, it still means we will have 6 amazing home games at the Stockade which we pushed for strongly as we worked through all the options available to us.
On behalf of our board and Baden our CEO, I would like to thank all of the Melbourne Rebels family for your incredible support of our club as we have faced a very tough 12 months.
I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our coaching staff, players and their families who have started 2021 with some new challenges thrown at the them, yet have dealt with them in such a positive way.
Our team wants to return home, and whilst it will be delayed a couple of weeks, it means that sense of excitement is only going to be stronger, and I can’t wait to see them run out of the tunnel against the Waratahs. It will be the start of four consecutive games at home, which we have never had before, and hopefully will come off the back of a great start to the season commencing on Friday night.
As we experienced last year, we continue to be overwhelmed by the love and support our club receives from our Rugby community, our great partners, the Victorian Government and our members. We can’t wait for the opportunity to use this pivotal moment in history to get behind our Club and our team, we all have an opportunity to give our players a huge lift and enjoy being rugby supporters together again.
Thank you all, it means a lot, and I look forward to cheering on the team this Friday night as we kick off 2021, and then seeing you all at the Stockade when we finally return home on Friday March 19 against the Waratahs.
Paul Docherty, Melbourne Rebels Chairman