By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Melbourne Rebels are not the only Super Rugby club struggling in Australia, and cutting them will only end up hurting the Wallabies in the long run, according to the club’s chief executive Baden Stephenson.
The Rebels went into voluntary administration on Monday amid reported debts of over A$10 million ($6.57 million), shining the spotlight on the domestic game’s challenges after a bleak 2023.
Rugby Australia (RA) has stepped in to ensure Rebels players and staff will be paid through the 2024 season which starts in weeks.
Beyond that, the governing body has declined to guarantee the club’s future, leaving the Rebels at a crossroads.
The financial woes have revived a time-worn debate about Australia’s ability to prop up five professional rugby union teams.
However, CEO Stephenson is adamant the Rebels deserve their place in the trans-Tasman competition, having developed seven players that made the Wallabies’ World Cup squad last year.
“We’ve been building rugby here in Melbourne and have achieved a lot for the game,” Stephenson told Reuters of the 13-year-old club.
“Cutting a team is not going to enhance pathways for (national) teams in gold given the amount of representative players that we have produced.
“I would like to think that the Melbourne Rebels will be part of the Australian rugby fabric. We’re important not only for the game here but also for Rugby Australia and the world.”
Joining Super Rugby in 2011 as an expansion side, the Rebels have a precarious foothold in arguably Australia’s most crowded sports market.
Melbourne, the country’s most populous city, is in thrall to Australian Rules football, hosting nine professional teams.
The city also has three pro soccer clubs along with the Melbourne Storm, the city’s hugely successful team in the National Rugby League.
The Rebels have scrapped hard to build a support base but fans have enjoyed little on-field success.
The Kevin Foote-coached team finished second-bottom in the 12-team Super Rugby Pacific last year and have never made the playoffs barring 2020, when COVID-19 reduced competition to a domestic tournament.
The Rebels have been in and out of private hands, and long struggled to make ends meet despite RA distributions and local government funding.
They are hardly alone with money troubles, however, with red ink reported at all of the country’s five Super Rugby sides.
RA declined to estimate the cost of keeping the Rebels on the field in 2024 but hope the state government of Victoria will provide support.
RA boss Phil Waugh met with government officials on Wednesday to discuss the Rebels’ plight.
The government said it was “working through” the matter with RA but declined to comment on whether it would provide additional funding to keep the team afloat.
“The Melbourne Rebels are an important member of Victoria’s sporting landscape,” a government spokesperson said.
Media have questioned the Rebels’ financial management but Stephenson said all teams had suffered from cuts in RA distributions since COVID-19.
Costs had also gone up with more investment in elite women’s programmes.
“It’s difficult for us, for sure. And for the four other Super Rugby clubs as well,” he said.
“All Super Rugby clubs are run very lean.
“We’ve been doing a lot more in regards to building up (women’s) Super W and elite pathways.”
The Rebels’ problems will put further pressure on RA’s balance sheet, months after the governing body took out an A$80 million loan from a private lender.
RA said the money would be allocated strategically to high-performance programmes, women’s rugby and grass-roots clubs. There was no mention of bailing out embattled Super Rugby clubs.
RA hopes a revenue boost from the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and hosting the 2027 World Cup will help erase the loan and set the game up for the long-term.
The Rebels can only focus on the immediate future.
“2024, as hard as it is for everyone, I think right across the game it’s a challenged year,” said Stephenson.
“It’s a little bit of a survival year.”
($1 = 1.5223 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.