2 years on… A dream becomes reality
As we stand upon the dawn of a new era of Rugby in this State and Country, let’s take some time to reflect on the 2 years that it has been.
This isn’t an article about the history of the Rebels and the failed bid in 2004 etc. but more about my own experiences in establishing what is now commonly known as The Army or ‘Rebel Army’.
In early 2009, I took the initiative to start a simple Facebook group (at the time) to grow support and awareness of a bid for Melbourne/Victoria to become 15th Super Rugby franchise. By today’s numbers, 200 members is quite small. At the time though it was an indication of like minded people. So much so, that I stumbled across a similar group, however with 1000 members! Run by none other then Neville Howard.
Realizing the potential, I offered to integrate my group into Neville’s. Subsequently, the group grew to over 2000 members. The group was driven purely by social networking, with updates revolving around media articles. We finally made the move off cyberspace and into the real world in November 2009. On November 12, we held a “party” at Turf Bar to celebrate the day Victorian Rugby had been waiting for, being awarded the 15th Super Rugby license.
It was during this period that Neville simply coined the term “Rebel Army”. We instantly ran with the idea and began planning something quite foreign to Rugby. Our first port of call, was to overhaul our website and move to a proper platform (the current result), this would help coordinate our efforts as well as generate content and stimulate opinions.
While we continued to develop our online presence, we made an effort to reach out to the physical world. Without a team though, it seemed quite difficult, however we’re about much more then just the Rebels. Combining technology and our love of Rugby, we attempted to provide live commentary of Victorian Rugby club games. This was great experience, getting out to the clubs and enjoying some local games.
As the Rebels were assembling their squad, we were assembling our own ideas. We wanted to be a supporter group, with flags, banners, and most importantly chants. Borrowing ideas from AFL cheer squads, Top 14 supporters, the Barmy Army and Football supporter groups etc…, we thought this would provide a good common base for what we were attempting to achieve.
It wasn’t until late 2010, that the Army became turbo charged. With the Rebels squad assembled, membership information released and Super Rugby fixture out, the onus was on us to put all our ideas to practice. The monthly meetings became the first instance, providing an avenue for supporters to get involved and contribute their ideas. It also gave us a good gauge as to how many of our 4000 odd fans were genuinely interested in our concepts.
When 2011 rolled over, we were finally given an outlet to apply our concepts. So far there have been four trial games, which I can describe as nothing short of “awesome” and “buckets of fun”. While some agree, that chants and active support concepts are foreign to most Australian sports lovers, the exception is Football. These guys are fantastic at it, mind you the application in Rugby is slightly different (which is do more with the general play). In addition I’d like to have something resembling a voice after 80 odd minutes. However, it’s all worth it, when you belt out Stirling Wonderland and get a nod from Stirling or help to will them over the line by yelling “Come On Rebels”.
Moving forward, with a capacity crowd expected at AAMI Park tonight, and some 100+ members in the Army, we are primed to turn the Stockade into a fortress and turn the perception of a Rugby supporter on its head. We will march united from Federation Square in a display of support for our team, the game and our state.
A dream that I’ve had since day one, will become reality tonight.
See you in the Yarra End.
