Melbourne Rebels
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| Union | Australian Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Rebels |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Region | Victoria |
| Ground(s) | AAMI Park (Capacity: 29,500) |
| Coach(es) | Tony McGahan |
| Captain(s) | Nic Stirzaker |
| Most caps | Luke Jones (73) |
| Top scorer | Jason Woodward (205) |
| League(s) | Super Rugby |
| 2016 | 3rd (Australian Conference) 8th (Australasian Group) 12th (overall) |
| Official website | |
| melbournerebels |
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The Melbourne Rebels (formerly known as the RaboDirect Melbourne Rebels for sponsorship reasons) are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia. The club shares its name with a former Australian Rugby Championship team, but is unrelated.
The era of professionalism in rugby union led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition after the 1995 World Cup. SANZAR was formed to manage a 12-team provincial union from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. During the early years of 2000s South Africa and Australia pushed for additional teams each. Argentina also expressed interest. Discussions also included federated pacific island team in the vein of the West Indies cricket team, or individual island nations.
Bids for the 13th and 14th franchise opened in 2002. Melbourne had, to that point, successfully hosted several Wallaby test matches which the Victorian Rugby Union used to demonstrate a ground swell of support for rugby union by the Victorian public. Melbourne also hosted several World Cup matches hosted at Docklands Stadium and drew 50,000 to the final day of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s.
The then Bracks government promised investment in infrastructure, considering a 25,000 seat redevelopment of Olympic Park Stadium or $100m for a new stadium. The successful bid went to Western Australia, ultimately becoming the Western Force for the 2004 Super 14 season.
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