Mortlock cleared to play for Rebels

FORMER Australian captain Stirling Mortlock will make his debut in Melbourne Rebels colours in the new Super Rugby club’s trial match against Fiji at St Patrick’s College on Saturday.The 33-year-old successfully completed training at Princes Park yesterday and has been ruled fit to play the match, after a lengthy recovery from back surgery. Mortlock said he had been mentally preparing himself to take the field in Ballarat for several weeks, describing the opportunity to wear his new club colours in anger for the first time as “something I’m sure I will always remember”. “There were no real concerns (about playing on Saturday) because I was very close (to playing a trial match) last weekend,” Mortlock said yesterday.“It was collective decision at the club that to have an extra week of training was just the tonic I would need.“I’m extremely excited. Watching the first two trials I’ve seen the improvement around the club.‘‘We hope to build on those performances because things are really starting to ramp up as far as our team goes.‘‘It is a big step forward, and the following week (a further trial match against the Canterbury Crusaders at AAMI Park) is going bigger again.“Personally I’m looking forward to it.‘‘I haven’t been to Ballarat and the team’s name is taken from the Eureka Stockade, so it’s pretty significant for us.” Mortlock said spectators can expect to see a close to full strength Rebels line-up, with the only players likely to miss being those carrying injuries.He said, with competition for spots intensifying as the team looks forward to the start of the season, players would not be holding back. “Most of our players who are fit will be on the pitch,” he said. “It is a start up team, so trials have a very different feel for a normal team.‘‘There are so many foreign players and Australian players who have come back to live in Victoria, so it is a real melting pot.” Melbourne coach Rod Macqueen reiterated the message that players would be playing for the spots in the Rebels’ best 15 on Saturday evening.“We’re telling players where they’re standing at the moment ... they’ve got two games to do something about where they stand,” Macqueen said.“It’s very difficult, but we’ve got to be honest with the players.‘‘There’s going to be a few disappointments among the players, but it’s a long season and I think we’ll be using most of the players anyway.”Kick off on Saturday will be 6pm.