Former Wallaby apologises for Melbourne as Super Rugby Pacific’s ‘Super Round’ ridiculed
Melbourne Rebels taking on the Brumbies in front of a sparse crowd in 2024 Super Rugby Pacific.
Ex-Wallaby representative Greg Martin believes that it is a terrible idea to stage Super Rugby Pacific’s ‘Super Round’ in Melbourne.
Derived from the NRL’s Magic Round, which was initially started in England in 2007 when Super League introduced the Magic Weekend, all the games are played at one venue.
For the third year in a row, it will be staged at AAMI Park, the home of the Melbourne Rebels, between Friday, March 1 and Sunday, March 3.
Schedule
Double headers will take place on each of the days, kicking off with the Highlanders taking on the Blues before the hosts face the Western Force on Friday.
Saturday sees the Pacific Island derby as Moana Pasifika face Fijian Drua, while the defending champions Crusaders go head-to-head with the Waratahs.
The weekend is then rounded off on Sunday with the Chiefs v Brumbies and Hurricanes v Reds.
However, these set of Super Rugby matches come after the Rebels entered administration, with the future of the Melbourne franchise uncertain beyond this season.
They have already laid off 10 administrative staff, including the chief executive, while the remaining staff, including the coaches, have been put on short-term contracts to see out the season.
Crowds have gradually declined for Rebels encounters over the years and Martin doesn’t believe that there’s an appetite for the team in the city.
“I’m going to apologise before the games start. I’m sorry, I’m sorry you’ve all had to come to Melbourne for a ‘Magic Round’,” he told The Platform.
“Wouldn’t you think if your football team was in the hole for AUS$20m and they were doing it tough, and the players have promised, ‘we’re going to put that all out of our minds and we’re going to play for you, the fans’, you would turn up? No one turned up last weekend.”
Small crowd for the opener
The Rebels’ crowd for their clash with the Brumbies was officially listed at 4,000, although some have poured scorn on that number, believing there to be fewer fans in attendance.
Martin doesn’t think that those supporters will turn up in their droves this weekend and instead insists that the stadium will be mainly be full of New Zealanders.
“How many are going to be there? I will tell you how many are going to be there. Zero Australians, they’re all going to be Kiwis who are supporting their teams,” he added.
“All the Kiwis there in Melbourne, they will be the only ones there at the ground. This Magic Round is stupid.”
