‘It took this to get the truth’: Rugby Australia misled Rebels over their future, court hears

The directors of Melbourne’s Super Rugby team thought the competition would rise from the ashes after COVID-19 with the support of Rugby Australia only to later learn they had no role in the future of the sport.

The bold claim about how the Melbourne Rebels rugby club was quietly knifed by the sport’s administrative body was made on the first day of a Federal Court trial to decide whether RA acted unfairly by withdrawing support for the club during its 2024 financial collapse.

The case is expected to offer a glimpse into the inner workings of one of the country’s most powerful sporting governing bodies, shedding new light on why RA chose to provide emergency funding to NSW Super Rugby team the Waratahs and the ACT’s Brumbies.

RA’s top brass including current chief Phil Waugh and former boss Andy Marinos are expected to provide evidence in the case. Rebels president Paul Docherty, who declared bankruptcy in 2025, is also expected to give evidence.

Opening the case for the Rebels before a packed courtroom in Melbourne, counsel Bernard Quinn, KC, said the Rebels’ directors had believed all the clubs in the competition had a good relationship with RA, one built on the common goal of the competition recovering after the pandemic led to cancellation of games and financial devastation for clubs.

“An atmosphere was generated, which perhaps had not been seen in the years before COVID, of a common purpose of collaboration, trust and confidence,” Quinn said.

“And that was … clearly, to raise from the ashes, nurture and develop a Super Rugby competition.

“The case will focus on the fracture of that active collaborative trust by Rugby Australia.”

Quinn said the directors had no idea that months earlier, in July 2023, RA had put in place a plan to preference the development of the sport in its traditional heartland of NSW, Queensland and the ACT.

The “Winning Rugby” plan, endorsed by the RA board, outlined a recasting of the sport to improve the patchy performance of the national squad. Under the strategy, the competition would be restructured to prioritise the financial survival and performance of three key east coast teams – the Waratahs, the Brumbies and the Reds.

Quinn told the court that the document would show that RA made the call to strip the Rebels franchise of its licence at a time when the directors were operating under the belief they had the ongoing support of the sport’s governing body.

“The essence of that policy was not disclosed to any of the clubs, including Rebels,” he said.

“And no one within Rebels knew what had specifically evolved until after this case had commenced. “It took litigation to get to the truth.”

The Rebels were stripped of their licence by RA in 2024, months after the club entered administration under the weight of about $23 million in debt, including $11.5 million owing to the Tax Office and another $6 million to members of the club’s high-profile board.

RA is defending the claim and is expected to present its case on Tuesday.

RA has long argued the Rebels’ dire financial position was a driver of its decision to withdraw support in late 2023 and not its plan to reshape the league.

It has pointed to the fact the club was alleged to have been trading while insolvent since 2018, as revealed by this masthead.

RA has also argued it was not kept fully abreast of the state of the club’s tax troubles, which included the directors of the club receiving director penalty notices holding them personally liable for the tax debts of the club.

Earlier in the hearing the Rebels directors applied to discontinue a separate legal bid brought against the person and firm overseeing the club’s administration to set aside the tax bill against the club, because the issue would be resolved in the substantive proceeding.

After a short recess, the court heard the parties had agreed to dismiss the directors’ case against the deed administrator, but the parties were still finalising the agreement.

The case continues.

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