MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Melbourne Rebels have been dumped from Super Rugby due to financial difficulties after 14 seasons in the competition.
Staff and players were called to Rebels headquarters on Thursday as they were preparing to fly to Fiji for their last regular-season match against the Drua on Saturday.
The news comes as the seventh-place Rebels are preparing for their first playoff campaign.
The Rebels have been in voluntary administration since January with debts owed to creditors exceeding 23 million Australian dollars ( $15.2 million), half of that amount owed to the Australian Taxation Office.
Rugby Australia cut staff and took over player and coaching payments for the 2024 season, with the Rebels handing over their competition license. A private consortium put forward a plan to fund the club until 2030, which was supported by the administrator, but Rugby Australia voted against the deal.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh and chairman Daniel Herbert flew to Melbourne to deliver the news to the financially-stricken club’s players.
Waugh said credit should go to the players, who have continued to perform despite the uncertainty facing the club.”
The rugby union franchise struggled for traction in a Melbourne winter sports market that is dominated by the Australian rules Australian Football League and which already had a powerful established club in the National Rugby League.
Most of the leading Rebels players were recruited from the rugby strongholds of Queensland and New South Wales states and the national capital, Canberra.
“The focus right now is on supporting the impacted staff and players at the Rebels,” he said. “We have a plan that will ensure rugby has a strong future in Victoria (state) — the infrastructure and the systems remain unchanged despite the change to the professional game in 2025, and we will continue to look for opportunities to increase that investment in the game in Victoria.”
In an earlier statement, Rugby Australia said the consortium’s projections for revenue growth and cost savings were “overly optimistic” and requiring additional funding from head office.
“Given the lack of detail made available to RA, the lack of transparency and the significant doubts over the consortium’s proposed financial model, RA has determined that there is an unacceptable level of risk associated with entering into a participation agreement with this consortium for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season,” Rugby Australia said.
“RA does not take this decision lightly, however, it must act in the best interests of the game and its stakeholders, and to provide certainty for the Rebels’ players and staff, and all Super Rugby clubs in planning for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.”
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