The Melbourne Rebels are seeking more than $30 million in damages after taking Rugby Australia to court following their Super Rugby Pacific axing.
The Rebels had signalled their intention to sue RA in May when the curtain came down on their Super Rugby participation.
RA were therefore not surprised when official court documents were lodged this week but it is nonetheless a damaging development.
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Rebels players at Sky Stadium. Getty
A spokesperson said RA had not yet seen the statement of claim lodged by the Rebels in the Federal Court of Australia and had no further comment.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh has maintained that a consortium bidding to rescue the cash strapped club were given every opportunity to press their case.
Business heavyweight Leigh Clifford had led a consortium that said it could revive the Rebels and proposed to move the club’s base to Tarneit.
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Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh and director of high performance Peter Horne. Getty
But after axing the club, Waugh told reporters that the group had not presented a compelling case to be entrusted with a licence.
The Rebels are now demanding to be reinstated into Super Rugby despite most of their players now being on the books of rival clubs.
“The Rebels are a member of Rugby Australia and had a legal expectation that they would not only be treated fairly but that they would be treated equally to other members,” a Rebels statement said.
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“Amongst other things, the Rebels will assert that Rugby Australia has breached various sections of the Corporations Act, has unlawfully oppressed the Rebels and is obliged to indemnify the Rebels for liabilities to the Australian Taxation Office (as well as other broader employment liabilities) incurred when Rebels players were playing for Rugby Australia teams…
“Their conduct needs to be both exposed and explained. RA have had many months to explain their actions and have failed to do so.
“The Rebels directors believe that the simple reason for this is that there is no defence to their conduct…
“The Rebels are a member of Rugby Australia and had a legal expectation that they would not only be treated fairly but that they would be treated equally to other members.”
Super Rugby will be contested by 11 teams including four from Australia next year.
The Western Force were also cut from Super Rugby by RA in 2017 but returned in 2020.