If the Rebels need motivation there is light at the end of the tunnel amid their slump, all they have to do Saturday is look at the team standing opposite them.
Both sides' journeys are eerily similar, it’s just one team seems to be further down the path than the other.
There are plenty of comparisons to be made between this Rebels side and the ’21 Waratahs.
Both struggled to deal with the loss of their inspiration, uber-hard working Wallaby (Michael Hooper and Marika Koroibete), with early injuries in the season to key players derailing their season before it got going.
This has caused havoc across the Rebels squad. The list has included at stages, but not limited to Andrew Kellaway, Jordan Uelese, Rob Leota, Pone Fa’amausili, Josh Kemeny, Trevor Hosea, Lachie Anderson and George Worth. It’s only been a month.
Meanwhile, the Waratahs lost captain Jake Gordon and Izaia Perese in the opening round of last season, with Lachie Swinton and Jack Dempsey following them.
At one stage, they had up to 20 players on the sidelines, which doesn’t even include the likes of Hooper, Holloway and Hanigan, who had departed at the end of 2020
The '21 Waratahs struggled throughout Super Rugby AU, showing signs against the Force and Brumbies they could claim that maiden win, however, failed to close it out.
This has already been seen in the Rebels’ early season form, racing out to a 14-0 lead against the Drua before they were run down on the Sunshine Coast.
With this fresh in mind, the Waratahs are refusing to take the Rebels lightly.
“I think for me personally over my career I fear teams that have more to play for,” hooker Dave Porecki said.
“They've obviously not had the best start in the year, but you can see they’re desperate for a win.
“It only takes one round for things to fall into place, and it could be this round that they click, and they find some form like us last season, we had a couple of really tight losses and I know the feeling of not getting those wins.
“You are desperate for a win, you'll do anything for the team to get a win, and that could be this week so I’m quite fearful of what they will bring to the table.
“They don’t really have much to lose and that’s something which is quite fearful. They're like a wounded animal and you don't back a wounded animal into a corner, they’re going to come out and try and put a performance on against us.”
For the Rebels, they can take some level of solace out of the incredible season revival the Waratahs have undertaken, knowing all it could take is one solid performance.
Whilst their roster isn’t as young, Wallabies winger Andrew Kellaway knows they have the necessary experience to turn it around once the injury ward starts to clear, looking to take the lessons out of the Waratahs' struggles last year.
“I don’t think we are as young as they are, we just don’t as many players on the field,” Kellaway noted last week. “They were (still) missing Ned Hanigan, Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper last year. It’s a pretty natural progression that when those guys come back in, the team gets better.
“There’s no reason why that can’t be the same for us when we get Josh Kemeny, Rob Letoa, Trevor Hosea back, guys like Joe Pincus come back into the mix, all of a sudden we’re a different team with a lot more mature heads.
“There’s a lot of parallels there with the Waratahs. The challenge for us is to say this is what didn’t work for them and trying to learn those lessons on the run.”
Kellaway headlined a host of returning Rebels last week, joined by Jordan Uelese and Reece Hodge, who missed the Drua defeat due to suspension.
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This has the Waratahs on guard, knowing the inclusion of such game-breakers can turn around any team’s fortunes.
“Injuries are tough. Last year we had a horrendous and horrific injury list and it was tough to get those combinations and guys on the field,” Waratahs assistant Chris Whittaker added.
“The Rebels went through that the first couple of weeks but if you look at the team last week, they have a lot of those players back so they have plenty of experience there.
“They are a team down on a bit of luck but if you give them a sniff, they have enough experience and good players to put a result on.”
