Rebels get a World Cup winner
Mednis returns to Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels after a decade in Cricket as a strength and conditioning coach with the Queensland Bulls, Brisbane Heat and Australian Cricket Team.
"We're thrilled to welcome a world leading performance expert with Damian's calibre to the Melbourne Rebels to lead our performance department," Melbourne Rebels General Manager Rugby Baden Stephenson said.
"Damian brings vast experience in high performance with a record of domestic and international success, along with ourstanding people and communication skills."
The Ipswich-native started his high performance career with the Queensland Rugby Union, where he was Performance Coordinator for the Queensland Reds and Reds Rugby College from 1996 – 2004 before a move to Ireland.
Employed by the Irish Rugby Union, Mednis was the Performance Coordinator at Munster for three years before a return to Queensland as Head of Strength and Conditioning for the Bulls and Heat.
Mednis joins the Rebels after three years as strength and conditioning coach for the Australian Cricket Team, where he devised and conduct strength, speed and agility training programs for all players across all formats.
Mednis brings a wealth of international and domestic success to the Rebels, including a 2015 Cricket World Cup, Ashes Series (2013), Big Bash (2013), Sheffield Shield (2011/12) and One Day Cup (2009) titles, and a European Cup Championship with Munster (2006).
"It's good to be back in rugby, while I really enjoyed my time with Cricket, it's fantastic to have that anticipation being back in a contact sport and something that I've missed for the last 10 years," Mednis said.
"There's a lot of upside to the Melbourne Rebels which attracted me to role, led by owner Andrew Cox and quality senior rugby staff, I see a happy and well constructed organisation with a strong playing list."
Mednis begins his role as the Melbourne Rebels Head of Performance in November after the departure of Bryce Cavanagh, who accepted a role overseas.
The Melbourne Rebels kick off the 2017 Super Rugby season when they host the Blues on Thursday, February 23 at AAMI Park.
