A WEEK WITH LAURIE WEEKS - IT'S BEEN A BIG MONTH

I won't be doing any of this for a while!

Where do we start!! It’s been about a month since my last entry and seriously what a difference four weeks can make. Why don’t we start with the most important event that has happened in the history of Victorian Rugby, my shoulder getting dislocated. I know, I know, it would be easy for the team to forfeit the season but you know what, the Rebels have found a way to continue. If the sarcasm is lost on anyone here… I’m joking. Anyway, unfortunately I did dislocate my shoulder after five minutes against the Auckland Blues. I was required to undergo a shoulder reconstruction and now I’ll miss the rest of the season. It becomes very clear how important your life away from Rugby is once you’re injured. When you’re not allowed to train for four weeks, life can become very boring. Also luckily (for me, not him) James King had shoulder surgery two weeks before me, so for the next six months I’ll have an awesome shoulder rehab buddy.

In my absence the Rebels have recruited Jono Owen from the Brumbies to help support Rodzilla and Hendo, who I truly believe, are amongst the Rebels best performers in recent weeks. I’ve known Jono for a while now after playing NSW u16’s together and spending a few years at Sydney Uni together. He’s not only been a welcome addition to the Rebels but has also found a place to stay at the home of the Vale St Vikings - Hugh Pyle, Lachie Mitchell and myself. But Jono has not been the only addition to the squad. Young flankers Ryan Hodson and Luke Beauchamp have joined us, while Eastwood Captain Hugh Perret is the latest player to join our ranks. Hugh has moved into the renowned Club Kew, sharing a roof with Nick Phipps, Tim Davidson and Jimmy Hilgendorf. Although there is currently a truce between the houses of Vale St and Club Kew, I fear these additions may well throw out the balance. Stay tuned as there may well be a battle emerging between the two houses!

Unfortunately with my injury, although clearly being the most damaging to the team and to the game of rugby in Australia, we have also lost our new recruit and one of the best players in the competition in James O’Connor. James suffered damage to his liver in a freak accident against the Waratahs. This will see James sit out for eight weeks and although his loss will be immeasurable, it has allowed for different combinations in our backline to come to light, and guys like Lachie Mitchell and Mitch Inman have really grasped the opportunity. In the past few weeks we also unfortunately lost our team mate Danny Cipriani. To be honest I wasn’t at the meeting where he said his final goodbye to the boys, but from all accounts it was extremely genuine and heartfelt. The only positive I can take from it is that it was a mutual agreement between Danny and the Rebels, which means if both parties were happy, then I’m happy (my happiness clearly being the most important factor in all of this). With the departure of Danny, we had a space wide open at fly-half. Kurtley Beale was the man to fill the job. I remember watching Kurtley play 10 at school and so in my mind he has always been a 10, a job that he proved more than capable at against the Bulls last week.

Leading up the Bulls game, Hilly pulled us all aside for a meeting to kick start the week. Very bluntly, he told us that now we had come to the middle point of the season we had to draw a line in the sand. We all had to be a lot harder on each other when it came to training and performance if we wanted to be successful in the back half of the season. After a stern talking to, it was interesting to find that all the players were also in the same frame of mind. We knew the next eight weeks was only going to be successful if we were harder on ourselves. The week of training leading up to the Bulls ran smoothly and Kurtley easily fit in to the General position, bossing forwards around and running the backline perfectly. When it came to game day I had a really good feeling. Last year I learnt not to trust my feelings as I went into every game with a good feeling, and we all know how last year went. But today I knew there was something different about the boys. As we all saw, the Rebels valiantly went down 41-35, a much closer affair than most people thought possible. In that game you could see the passion shown by the Rebels forwards, there was some serious heart shown in everything they were doing. The backs were at there attacking best, with Kurtley directing the show. As many have said, it was easily one of the Rebels best performances in our short history. I honestly sensed in the change room after the game that we had moved a step forward as a team and we had the confidence in ourselves that we seemed to be missing.

This Saturday, May 12, we play the Crusaders. The boys from Christchurch are the benchmark in Super Rugby and it will be a huge challenge for us. The return of Richie McCaw will only strengthen the Crusaders’ cause. But if we show the same heart as we did against the Bulls, I’m telling you, not only will we put on an amazing game of rugby but we will also come away with the win! If we succeed, there’s no telling what the flow on effect will be for the rest of the season.

As has unanimously been agreed upon, the Rebels fans and Melbourne crowd in particular are the best in Australia! The support the fans give to the players has an incredible impact on the spirit of the team and can only do good things. So in saying that I want to see as many of you as possible at ‘The Stockade’ this week supporting the boys. It’s going to be huge.

Go Rebels!