Melbourne Rising

The Melbourne Rising was an Australian rugby union team based in Melbourne that competed in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team represented the rugby community in Victoria and was organised and managed by Rugby Victoria with the coaching and training programs used by the Melbourne Rebels being extended to players joining the team from the Rebels, the local Dewar Shield competition, and local Victorian juniors.

The NRC was launched in 2014, reinstating the national competition after an absence of six years. The previous competition was the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC), which was discontinued in 2007 after only one season. The team representing Victoria in the ARC was the Melbourne Rebels, organised and managed by the VRU. That Rebels team was the predecessor of the Melbourne Rebels team in Super Rugby and the Melbourne Rising team in the NRC.

History In 2004, a consortium led by the Victorian Rugby Union entered the bidding process for a licence in the Super 14 competition to get a team in Melbourne for the 2006 season. The then Super 12 competition was expanding to 14 teams, with one new licence being allocated to an Australian team and another to a South African team. Victoria and Western Australia were the leading bidders for the Australian team and the licence was eventually allocated to Western Australia, creating the Western Force.

For the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007, however, both Victoria and Western Australia were allocated teams. The Australian Rugby Union announced the new, eight-team national competition after setting up a consultative process in 2006 which culminated in a working session of some 70 delegates from around the country. It was reported that New South Wales gave up a fourth team to enable Victoria to participate in the new national competition.

Melbourne Rebels (ARC team)

The Melbourne Rebels team was formed to participate in the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) that started in August 2007. It was the only team in the ARC that was not directly linked to a Super Rugby franchise as Victoria did not have one at the time.

The Rebels' jersey had traditional navy blue and white hoops, the colours of the Victorian Axemen side that represented Victoria in the Australian Rugby Shield. The Rebels name was chosen in consultation with the local rugby community. VRU officials decided on the name in reference to Victoria's first Wallaby, Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop. At the official launch of the team's name and jersey on 29 March 2007, former Wallaby Chris “Buddha” Handy said:

The Rebels' head coach for the ARC was Bill Millard, a former coach of the Australian Sevens and Sydney University. Former Wallaby Fletcher Dyson was a coaching consultant. Former Rugby World Cup-winning coach Rod Macqueen was the No. 1 ticket holder and a passionate supporter of the club. The Melbourne side was allowed to sign a number of players from the four Australian Super 14 franchises. This included three players from the Brumbies and Western Force, and one each from the New South Wales Waratahs and Queensland Reds. David Croft was the 2007 captain.

The Melbourne Rebels played their ARC home games at the Olympic Park Stadium located in inner Melbourne, but the team's first league game was an away win against the Canberra team in round one. The Melbourne Rebels played their first home match in front of 4,875 people at Olympic Park the following week, beating the East Coast Aces.

After finishing fourth on the league table, the Rebels defeated the minor premiers Western Sydney in their semi-final 23 to 3. The Rebels played the Central Coast Rays in the inaugural ARC Grand Final. The Melbourne team was defeated by the Central Coast 20 points to 12 in the Grand Final, finishing runners-up in the competition.

The Australian Rugby Championship was terminated at the end of 2007 after only one season of competition, with the Australian Rugby Union citing higher costs than budgeted and further projected financial losses. The Melbourne Rebels side was disbanded with the end of the ARC, but was revived in 2010 under the same name as the Super 14 tournament was expanded to the 15-team Super Rugby competition to include the Melbourne Rebels for the 2011 season.

National Rugby Championship

In December 2013, the ARU announced that the national competition was to be relaunched, with the National Rugby Championship (NRC) commencing in 2014. Expressions of interest were open to any interested bidders, with the accepted tenders finalised in early 2014. On 24 March 2014, it was announced that the Melbourne Rising would play in the NRC competition.

The Rising's jersey for the 2014 season was predominantly navy blue and pink, with white and electric blue highlights. The team's logo incorporated a rising star, representing future talent; a floral arrangement of Pink Heath, which is the state flower of Victoria; and the five stars representing the Melbourne Rebels.

For the 2014 NRC season, the Melbourne Rising secured RaboDirect as the main jersey sponsor. Sean Hedger and Matt Cockbain were appointed as head coach and forwards coach of the Rising. Both were assistant coaches at the Rebels. Craig McGrath, coach of the Melbourne Harlequin club, was appointed as backs coach. The Rising's training base is also at the Harlequin club in Ashwood. Nic Stirzaker was named as captain with Mitch Inman, Patrick Leafa and Pom Simona in the team's leadership group. Scrumhalf Luke Burgess played for both the Melbourne Rebels ARC team in 2007 and the Melbourne Rising NRC team in 2014.

Colours and logo As of 2016, Melbourne Rising's colours of red, white and blue were those of the Melbourne Rebels, although the side previously played in a navy blue and pink jersey, with white and electric blue highlights. The team's current logo is also adapted from that of the parent franchise, with the name Melbourne Rising used instead of Melbourne Rebels.

Home grounds The team scheduled its 2019 home matches at the following locations:

City Venue CapacityBailey Reserve3,000Eureka Stadium11,000RHL Sparks Reserve3,000Casey Fields12,000

Other home venues used in previous seasons:

City Venue Capacity3,000St Patrick's College3,000Frankston Park8,000GMHBA Stadium34,074MelbourneAAMI Park29,500Latrobe City Stadium4,000

For the Rising's initial season, the team played at AAMI Park, located in inner Melbourne. Opened in 2010, the stadium's major tenants include the Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC. Smaller venues were preferred from 2016 onward.

Current squad The squad for the 2019 NRC season: </onlyinclude> Melbourne Rising squad – NRC 2019

Notes: Bold denotes player is internationally capped. (c) Denotes team captain. 1 denotes marquee player. Flanker Ikapote Tupai. Centre Lloyd Johansson. Fullback Jack Maddocks. </onlyinclude>

Records

Honours National Rugby Championship Playoff appearances: 2014, 2015, 2016 Horan-Little Shield Season winners: 2014 Australian Rugby Championship (Rebels) Runners-up: 2007

Season standings National Rugby Championship {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! style="width:20px;"|Year ! style="width:20px;"|Pos ! style="width:20px;"|Pld ! style="width:20px;"|W ! style="width:20px;"|D ! style="width:20px;"|L ! style="width:20px;"|F ! style="width:20px;"|A ! style="width:38px;"|+/- ! style="width:20px;"|BP ! style="width:20px;"|Pts ! style="width:25em; text-align:left;"| Play-offs |- |2014 |1st | 8 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 399 || 184 || +215 || 8 || 40 |align=left| Semi-final loss to Perth Spirit by 29–45. |- |2015 |3rd | 8 || 5 || 0 || 3 || 220 || 251 || −31 || 0 || 20 |align=left| Semi-final loss to UC Vikings by 50–34. |- |2016 |4th | 7 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 260 || 262 || −2 || 4 || 16 |align=left| Semi-final loss to NSW Country by 50–24 |- |2017 |9th | 8 || 1 || 0 || 7 || 193 || 357 ||–164 || 0 || 4 |align=left| Did not compete |- |2018 |6th | 7 || 2 || 0 || 5 || 239 || 192 || +47 || 5 || 13 |align=left| Did not compete |- |2019 |7th | 7 || 2 || 0 || 5 || 206 || 211 || –5 || 3 || 11 |align=left| Did not compete

Australian Rugby Championship (Rebels) {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! style="width:20px;"|Year ! style="width:20px;"|Pos ! style="width:20px;"|Pld ! style="width:20px;"|W ! style="width:20px;"|D ! style="width:20px;"|L ! style="width:20px;"|F ! style="width:20px;"|A ! style="width:37px;"|+/- ! style="width:20px;"|BP ! style="width:20px;"|Pts ! style="width:25em; text-align:left;"| Play-offs |- |2007 |4th | 8 || 5 || 0 || 3 || 170 || 206 || –36 || 4 || 24 |align=left| Runners-up

Head coaches Pom Simona (2019–present) Eoin Toolan (2018) Zane Hilton (2015–2017) Sean Hedger (2014) Bill Millard (2007) – Rebels ARC

Captains Semisi Tupou (2019–present) Angus Cottrell (2018) Steve Cummins (2017) Nic Stirzaker (2016) Colby Fainga'a and Scott Fuglistaller (2015) Nic Stirzaker (2014) David Croft (2007) – Rebels ARC

Squads {| class="collapsible collapsed" style=" width: 100%; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid darkgray; border-spacing: 3px;" |- ! colspan="10" style="background-color:#f2f2f2; cell-border:2px solid black; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; text-align: center;" |2019 Melbourne Rising squad – NRC |- |colspan="10"|The squad for the 2019 National Rugby Championship season: