The Melbourne Rebels are excited to attack their first quarter-final in club history as they prepare for a titanic task of toppling minor premiers Hurricanes in Wellington.
The Rebels will head to New Zealand as they look to keep themselves alive in Super Rugby in their maiden finals appearance.
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They come in as significant underdogs ($29) to take down the top seed, with the club unfazed by the challenge in front of them.
“We plan to attack it," prop Sam Talakai said to reporters.
“We’ve had a good prep and an extra day in Melbourne to get our systems right and we want to leave nothing unturned this weekend.
“I think they’re a top side for a reason, to beat them you’ve got to do something a bit different," Wallaby and Rebels outside back Andrew Kellaway added.
“Hopefully we can throw some stuff at them that really test them and then it’ll be on our leaders and game managers to make sure we’re playing in the right part of the field.”
Their 54-28 defeat to the Hurricanes earlier in the season proved a turning point for the Rebels' season.
They went on a three-game run, including wins over fellow finals sides Fijian Drua and Highlanders, which proved to be crucial as they held onto the eighth and final spot by two points.
“We were all disappointed with our performance that game,” Kellaway admits
“We went into that excited to play the top team in the competition at that point and it was a great chance for us to test where we were and where we were going and we didn’t come out too great.
“…In the change rooms, there was a lot of discomfort and disappointment about that and then what I think you saw was a really great response that set us up really well into the back end of the season.”
Hovering over the Rebels is the potential that Saturday's quarter-final could be the club's last amid their financial issues.
They refused to hide from the situation and were keen to harness the emotion.
"I think you have to address those sorts of things, it's important to make sure that everyone knows that it's ok to feel how it makes you feel," Kellaway added.
"If it's our last game, then that comes with its own set of emotions and add into that, it's our first quarter-final so there's lots of stuff swimming around."
