The Melbourne Rebels are planning to run the Waratahs ragged before a second half ambush by their bench as they look to keep their unbeaten start alive in their Super Rugby clash on Sunday.
The Rebels will go into the Allianz Stadium match fresh on the back of a 10-day turnaround while NSW are regrouping after the long-haul slog to South Africa and Argentina.
After battering NSW early on through back-row beasts Amanaki Mafi and Lopeti Timani, the Rebels are counting on hard-running Wallabies Marika Koroibete and Richard Hardwick coming off the bench to be equally as damaging.
Melbourne coach Dave Wessels said he believed his reserves were almost more important than his starters in terms of their game plan.
"If we can create some fatigue in the early part of the game we can come on and up the tempo toward the back-end with some pretty handy players," Wessels said on Thursday.
"If we do that effectively we feel like we can get over the top of a lot of teams in the back-end of games.
"The strength of our bench is a big part of our plan as we have some special individual players and it would be silly if we didn't use that strategically.
"Whoever's on the bench plays almost a more important role than the guys who are starting."
Despite the Waratahs' indifferent start to the season, Wessels sees the Sydney match as the toughest of the Australian conference.
He said his team wanted to make a statement by taking their impressive form against the Brumbies on the road.
"This will be our biggest test - the Waratahs have got a lot of Australia's best players so we're going to play really well," Wessels said.
"They will be disappointed by the way they played overseas so it's going to be a step up for us."
While the Waratahs welcome back Test players Sekope Kepu and Rob Simmons to bolster their set piece, Rebels captain Adam Coleman has recovered from a sternum injury to play.
Melbourne have some concern about hooker Jordan Uelese, who tweaked his hamstring at training this week, but are hopeful he will be available.
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