Rugby Australia has confirmed that the Melbourne Rebels have entered voluntary administration, as hopes grow that the Victorian Government may emerge as a longer-term saviour of the franchise.
News that administrators had been appointed to the Rebels emerged last week, with their total debts owing reported to be between $9-10m, as the club's major sponsor BRC Capital and chairman Paul Docherty were embroiled in serious financial difficulty.
RA on Tuesday confirmed that it would work with the administrators, Deloitte, as reported by the Australian Financial Review, but would but only guaranteed the franchise's survival for 2024. The governing body also confirmed that the third edition of Super Rugby Pacific's Super Round would proceed as planned in Round 2.
"RA is committed to ensuring the Melbourne Rebels play in the 2024 Super Rugby competitions, and we will support their preparation for the new season," RA chief executive Phil Waugh said.
"As custodians of the game, we are determined to ensure that RA is making responsible decisions for a sustainable and successful future - we will work with the Rebels and the relevant stakeholders to that end."
The Rebels owe the lion's share of their debt to the Australian Taxation Office, while it is believed they are also $1m in arrears of their rent of AAMI Park.
Coach Kevin Foote, who was an assistant at the Western Force when they were cut, said the current situation would "galvanise" the team.
"The first thing we spoke about was controlling what we can control," he told AAP of his meeting with the players on Tuesday.
"If anything this is made the players very determined - I lived through this in Perth and I can tell you this will galvanise the team but winning changes everything.
"We've got to play a game that people are going to be really, really inspired by and we think we're on the right track with it.
"We've got great recruitment and we've got leaders who have been at the club for a long time now who really want to show what rugby means in Victoria."
The Victorian Government's support of Super Round -- which has so far failed to truly resonate with the wider Victorian sports community in its two previous stagings -- and its pursuit of Bledisloe Cup and British & Irish Lions Tests, and, perhaps most importantly, the 2027 Rugby World Cup final, has potentially given the Rebels and RA an avenue to explore to keep the franchise afloat in the longer term.
"The Victorian Government has been a long-standing and significant supporter of professional and community Rugby," Waugh said.
"Through our strong partnership - forged through decades of staging major events in Melbourne - our focus is to work with the Victorian Government and its key agencies, including Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust, to ensure the Rebels' participation in the 2024 Super Rugby season and the continuation of professional Rugby in the state."
Rebels chief executive Baden Stephenson had in recent times done his best to distance the franchise from reports of the financial turmoil engulfing the club, but Tuesday's news affirms supporters' worst fears about whether they will have a club to support beyond 2024.
"Our focus as an organisation is to ensure we can deliver the 2024 season, perform well in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific and Super Rugby Women's competitions, and to position our club in the best possible way for the future," Stephenson said.
"Thank you to the Rebels' players and staff, our partners, and especially the members and fans for their support and patience during this time."
The Rebels are arguably better placed then they have ever been before to make a run at the Super Rugby playoffs this season, having signed powerhouse Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou and former Test Lukhan Salakaia-Loto as part of a recruitment drive that also secured former Hurricanes flyer Matt Proctor and English scrum-half Jack Maunder.
The club will also have returning Wallabies Carter Gordon, Andrew Kellaway, Matt Philip, Rob Leota, Pone Fa'aumasili and Jordan Uelese available throughout the season, with RA having abolished the mandatory rest weeks of previous years.
While the Rebels must get their house in order financially off the field, they would also be well served by showing they are a viable force on it, and not merely a team making up Super Rugby Pacific's 12-team participation agreement.
Meanwhile, World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin indicated last week that Melbourne's hopes of hosting the 2027 World Cup final would not be affected by the lack of a professional franchise in the city.
Regardless, RA faces and tough decision in the longer term, with any reduction in the number of Super Rugby franchises potentially affecting an upgraded television rights deal at the same time risking another civil war like the one seen following the axing of the Western Force in 2017.
-- with AAP