VIDEO: Rebels on the verge of wildcard status
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Rebels’ Super Rugby match against the Reds could pave the way to an inaugural finals berth for the Melbourne franchise.
Sitting second in the Australian conference and eighth in the overall standings of the Super Rugby, this week’s game against the Reds would have to approach as a must-win.
If the Rebels, who have 35 log-points, fail to record a win the side could be leapfrogged by the Sharks who have 32 overall log points.
Furthermore, to make it more challenging the Rebels head to Highlanders for the last round-robin fixture.
“You are going to burn a lot of emotional energy thinking about that stuff [other results],” Wessels told reporters when asked about the Sharks’ chances of taking the wildcard stop.
“The great thing is that we’re currently sitting in a playoff spot. If we do the things that we can control, we stay in a playoff spot.
“That’s the beauty of the position we’re in. There’s no point in worrying about what other people are doing.
“We’ve got our minds 100 percent focused…and go to Brisbane to get the job done,”
Even though coach Dave Wessels praised his side’s improvement over the last two months, the mentor is fully aware of the huge threat the Reds posses for their play-off ambitions.
“The Reds are a very good side,” Wessels said.
“At certain times result might not have gone their way [this season], but they’ve certainly got some world-class players.
“They’ve got some very dangerous runners. Our approach to dealing with dangerous runners is to throw a few punches of our own.
“We [will] focus really hard on playing the game on our terms [and] doing the things we want to do.
The Rebels fell short to the Waratahs and a chance to jump into the top spot on the Australian Conference at AAMI Park last Friday, with two intercept tries inside the last 10 minutes allowing the visitors to take the game away from the Rebels.
But Wessels reiterated that his team will continue to prepare for taking the game on and play an exciting form of rugby.
“We’ve got to get the blend right…from a process point of view,” he said.
“Making sure we know what makes us play well – and that is preparation.
“If the pass is on, we should throw the pass. We get ourselves into those situations because we prepare well [and] we know what we are expecting.
“That gives us those opportunities,”
In terms of the injuries, the side will travel without captain Adam Coleman, who has not recovered from an abductor injury that also sidelined him for the Waratahs match.
But Wallabies duo, Marika Koroibete (back) and Tetera Faulkner (ankle) could return for the last two fixture.
Source: @MelbourneRebels
