Rebels CEO Baden Stephenson admits the Rebels are preparing to be away for the rest of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman after leaving Victoria for a third time this year.
The club was forced to leave for Sydney on Wednesday after a rise in COVID-19 cases across the state.
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With cases continuing to grow, the state has entered a seven-day lockdown, with New Zealand issuing a temporary pause on the travel bubble.
“We got the notification Tuesday afternoon that we might need to leave Melbourne that afternoon so I had to walk out onto the field whilst the players were doing their scrum session and tell them,” he explained to Rugby.com.au
“By the time I got back to the office, New Zealand had made their announcement from when they were closing the fight bubble. SANZAAR then couldn’t find enough seats on flights out of Melbourne from 5-6 pm, since we needed to be out by 6:00 pm. Once that couldn’t happen, we thought we could stick in Melbourne for the 72-hour flight lockdown.
"Some of them were on the golf course on Wednesday when I sent the message that it was highly likely we had to get out of Melbourne this afternoon so everyone had to scramble and pack to be ready for the confirmation. We had a little bit more time than in January when we had two hours to basically get back and pack to get out of Melbourne.
“There was slightly less stress but it still isn’t easy when lots of players have young wives and kids, uprooting yourself without much notice. I think we forecasted once some of the cases started to develop, it was inevitable that we would be out of Melbourne.”
This has caused the game between the Rebels and Highlanders to be moved to Sydney, set to be played at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
After a wild and unpredictable 2021, Stephenson conceded the process of constantly rushing to the border has become commonplace for the club, praising the group's resilience.
“It’s the third time that our team has been asked to depart Melbourne at speed with limited notice. We’ve had 18 weeks on the road which has taken its toll, we started the season with five weeks on the road due to COVID but I was really proud with how the team and staff reacted,” he said.
“We’ve been through this situation before, they’re a pretty resilient group who have adjusted and reacted to what’s needed to be done.
“They’re fine and safe in Sydney. We have control of our destination now we are out of Melbourne.”
No players or staff have been caught up with the hot spots at this stage, with the Rebels confined to hotel quarantine until they produce a negative result.
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Whilst Stephenson was optimistic the side could return home for their final round match with the Crusaders, their past experiences left him unconfident as players deal with the 'cruel circumstances.'
“I’ve been burnt a couple of times before,” he said with a laugh. “The first two times I said we were gone for two weeks and one was 13 and the next was five weeks. So I’ve learnt not to put a timeline on it.
“We’ve thought that it might be for the next couple of games. We’re hopeful that we will return for our last game against the Crusaders but we don’t know what will happen.
“The guys have packed enough clothes whether they are in Sydney or New Zealand or wherever they are for the next few weeks. Guys are pretty equipped packing for cruel circumstances.”
