Landy’s valour missing six decades later as Rebels leave Force in cold

Approach Melbourne’s AAMI Park from the city and it’s almost impossible not to notice the impressive statue on the adjoining block of land, the one which freezes in time the moment when John Landy went back to help Ron Clarke in a mile race in 1956 at the Australian titles.

It was the year Australia would host the Olympics for the first time, so it goes without saying that the race was immensely important in the Australian scheme of things.

Nonetheless, when heels were tangled and Clarke sprawled to the track, bleeding from an inadvertent spike to the arm, Landy didn’t hesitate. Immediately he turned back and helped his rival to his feet before resuming the race. Though he gave away 40m, he overtook the field and won.

Sport Australia regarded his actions as the greatest display of sportsmanship by an Australian in the 20th Century. Hence the statue. Hence the reason Landy became Victorian governor.

So, it was more than a little unsettling that, on the rugby pitch right next door, the Melbourne Rebels acted on Sunday in a way seemingly totally at odds with those of Landy. It takes a bit of explaining but please, bear with me…

As the full-time siren blew with the Rebels leading the Highlanders 31-30, the home side was awarded a penalty. Immediately the players embraced. They had just sealed their greatest win of the season. Normally all that needed to be done was to take a quick tap, then hoof the ball out and victory was theirs.

Yet there was more at stake on this occasion. If the Rebels could deny the Highlanders a bonus point – which meant beating them by eight points or more – then another Australian team, the Western Force, would advance to the play-offs. The Rebels would not gain in any way by continuing to play but the Force, which has shared so much painful history with the Melbourne club, could sneak into the finals.

But here’s the downside. They would be putting at risk their hard-won victory against a New Zealand side. Wins generally have been hard to come by down Melbourne way in 2022.

No two clubs have ever been pitted against each other quite as the Rebels and the Force were in 2017. The then Australian Rugby Union had announced it was culling a side and the choice came down to Melbourne or Perth. In the protracted battle that followed, lasting more than four months, each club’s values and virtues were minutely dissected. In the end, however, one team had to go: Perth.

The Force subsequently was cannibalised and, excruciatingly, their best players sent over to Melbourne. Most have moved on or retired but there were three remnants of the old Force side out there on Sunday, Richard Hardwick, Ross Haylett-Petty and Cameron Orr, who had played invitation games for them in 2018.

Nor it wasn’t just the players who had migrated east. So too had Rebels coach Kevin Foote, who had been an assistant to Dave Wessels at the Force before they both moved to Melbourne. When Wessels had run his race as head coach, Foote took over. There was, then, no shortage of people sympathetic to the Force when the snap decision had to be made.

Matt Toomua held the ball in his hands and clearly wanted to play on. But the clock was ticking and, to his obvious disappointment, the call was made. End it.

Inevitably, there have been howls of protest from the West. The perfidy of the Melbourne Rebels!

Yet, as someone who was at the game, that was not the feeling in the air. At their last home game, on May 15, the Rebels had lost to the Chiefs 33-30 on the last play of the game.

Loading

To lose another match in such heart-breaking circumstances would have been devastating to fans and sponsors, particularly as the game was already won.

Given their shared history, it would have been wonderful had the Rebels made the effort. Even if they had fallen short, there is no question they would have been feted over in the West. But they didn’t even try.

Life is full of opportunities when you could have, should have done a favour for your fellow man. Yet the heroic call has to be made in that precise instant. One moment of clouded judgement and the moment passes forever, leaving room only for regret.

There is regret at Rebels headquarters today. A wish that they had done things differently. But they have had too few good days this season to realistically expect that they would risk it all for any rival. How many clubs would have taken the gamble, they ask?

That, of course, is why there is a statue just outside their front door. Landy’s actions have stood the test of time.

Watch every match of the Super Rugby Pacific on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Quarter Finals this week with Crusaders v Reds (Friday 4:30pm AEST), Chiefs v Waratahs (Saturday 2:00pm AEST), Blues v Highlanders (Saturday 4:40pm AEST) and Brumbies v Hurricanes (Saturday 7:15pm). All streaming ad-free, live and on demand only on Stan Sport.