The Rebels roster is coming together, with some players still to converge on Melbourne, but one of their incoming stars is doing it the hard way, spending time in New Zealand with one of their provincial sides continuing what is a “huge learning curve”.
Luke Rooney, a former St Dominic’s College product, would have never thought that he would have called so many places home, especially considering his love for Penrith.
Rooney famously insulted Europe when he couldn’t find any TAB’s when he was part of the Kangaroo’s Northern Tour in 2004, but now has been gone from the Blue Mountains for three years, although marks of his heritage are still obvious.
Many believed that Rooney would continue to stamp his mark on league, having notched up 140 games with the Penrith Panthers en route to New South Wales origin and Kangaroo jerseys.
The 2003 NRL Premiership winner, who proudly had a PREMIERS Panthers tattoo etched on his shoulder (and why wouldn’t he when he scored two tries in the Grand Final), has epitomised his professional approach to the game.
When he moved to Southern France in 2008 to play for Toulon, many thought it would be a short stay for a player who often professed his love for league.
But playing alongside fellow convert Sonny Bill Williams, England’s world record point’s scorer Jonny Wilkinson and former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, Rooney began to find his feet.
Fast forward one season and the star studded side would compete in the semi finals of the Top 14 and the final of the Amlin Challenge Cup.
It is still difficult, the transition to rugby league, with Rooney nominating the hardest aspect being the rucks.
"It is pretty hard switching codes," he said.
"It's just so technical, union, compared to league. The rucks – I've never experienced anything like that. I hadn't ever played union until a year and a half ago, so it's still a huge learning curve for me.
So instead of resting on his laurels, Rooney wanted to make sure he continued furthering his rugby education, so decided that the best way to do this was to cut his teeth in one of the more noted rugby academies in the world.
He signed with Hawke’s Bay, one of 14 top level New Zealand provinces competing in the National Provincial Championship, under its current guise of the ITM Cup.
The Magpies, who have reached the last three semi finals of the competition, are regarded as one of the emerging powerhouses of New Zealand rugby, regularly beating bigger sides like Auckland and Canterbury.
So Rooney was on a plane the moment the French season finished and headed to the North Island in New Zealand to focus on the game. He has played wing, but feels that his best position is fullback.
“I played a few games at first on the wing at Toulon but I've played fullback since and much prefer it. You get into the game much more from fullback. On the wing you wait for the ball. Getting used to the rucks and cleanouts has been difficult. In league you make a tackle, then a bit of a wrestle, and that's about it,” Rooney said to the NZ Herald.
Of course, playing at the Magpies in such a position means that at times, even someone as well credentialed as Rooney needs to step aside, especially when up and coming All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg comes back to play for his team.
Rooney has played against both Canterbury and Bay of Plenty, but had to step aside when the Magpies played Tasman as Dagg was available, and will feature off the bench against top of the table Southland this week.
There is no doubt it has been difficult, with Rooney wanting to get up to speed with a different style of rugby.
Hence the reason why he linked up with Hawke’s Bay.
“I needed a bit of game time before the Rebels kicked off and keep learning the game. It is played differently here compared to Europe where there are a lot of rucks and scrums,” he said.
Magpies head coach Peter Russell said that it was a big learning curve for his new recruit.
"He's finding it a little bit different," Russell said to NZPA.
"Australian and New Zealand rugby is all about counter attack and ball movement. He's just struggling a little bit to find his feet with that aspect of the game. In France he just caught the ball and kicked it back. This is a big change for him.”
But he was learning, especially in terms of how the New Zealanders like to play.
"He's a work in progress in terms of what options to take when counter attacking, it's just building that game knowledge of knowing who's supporting you and what to do with numbers in the way," Russell said.
There was little doubt though that Rooney was clearly a willing student.
"He's training the house down," Russell said.
"Luke's got a database of all the Super 14 fullbacks to look how they all play. He's willing to learn, you can't fault him for that."
And surely with such rugby intelligence, the Rebels will have a leg up when Rooney links up with his new team to stamp his mark on his newest rugby home.