Rebels A to kick-start 4-week Rugby Bonanza

Fri, Apr 8, 2022, 9:42 PM
Rebels Media
by Rebels Media

The Melbourne Rebels will launch into four-week rugby bonanza beginning with today’s Rebels A match at the Moorabbin Rugby Club.

Sporting a balanced mix of Super Rugby, Junior Wallabies and Elite Pathway’s talent, the Rebels A will play a game of 3 halves against the Melbourne Unicorns and the Moorabbin Rams beginning at 3:25 pm.

Today’s match will provide valuable game-time to a number of the Rebels’ younger players while further strengthening the Rebels’ connection with the Victorian community.

To preview today’s match, Rebels Media spoke to Rebels A Coach and Elite Pathways Manager, Pom Simona.

RM: How beneficial has it been for some of the Club’s younger players to get high quality game time in before club rugby begins?

PS: It’ll be massively beneficial from the players and coaches’ perspective. The players have a chance to get valuable game time against quality opposition and put pressure on their team mates ahead of them through Super Rugby quality performances.

For us coaches it’s another chance to look at players under the stress of real opposition and see how they cope. Some of the El Capo have Super Rugby experience or aren’t too far from Super Rugby so we expect Super Rugby standard performances from them.

RM: Touch on the growth you’ve witnessed for some of our younger players for so far in 2022.

PS: The best analogy I can use to describe our Elite Pathway players progression is they are like corn kernels when thrown into a pot to make popcorn. When the heat of a professional environment has turned on some of the kernels have popped already, some still need more heat to pop whilst others may take a little longer. 

Daniel [Maiava] is obviously one who has popped early and really thrived under the intensity of professional rugby. He’s got some great mentors and role models in Trevor Hosea and Matt Philip but he’s also put the work in.

There’s also Eyda Haisila, Lebron Naea, Zach Hough and Divad Palu, who are also progressing really well and are about to pop.

This game against quality Dewar Shield teams and the upcoming Junior Wallabies camp will all add fire to the pot that will help their development. 

The Elite Pathway group have certainly drawn a lot of energy from Daniel making his debut against the Drua and there’s a lot of boys there pushing hard to share the same experience.

RM: A key member of the Rebels A side, Michael Icely, is set to make his Aussie 7’s debut. How excited is the playing group to see one of their own grasp such an exciting opportunity?

PS: We’re all really pumped to see Icely in action. Icely is the El Capo vice-captain and is a hugely influential member of our squad so we’re so excited for him. He’s a selfless team man with speed and a massive appetite for work all of which should serve him well.

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