Converting AFL-obsessed Victorians to a 'foreign' code is a tough ask, but that's precisely the challenge confronting the Melbourne Rebels Rugby Club.
Dozens of youngsters have attended the club's first Indigenous Expo day.
'Line-outs', 'penalties' and 'scrums' may have seemed like words in a foreign language for the young Melburnians, but they seemed willing to embrace it.
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The star attraction of the Rebels Indigenous Expo day was Wallabies full-back Kurtley Beale, who fronted a grilling from the crowd wanting to know who his heroes had been when he was growing up.
Beale had a serious message to share - that sport offers direction and purpose.
"I found it difficult at times. I grew up with some mates .. some are locked up now," he said.
"Going down this path you had alcohol you had drugs ... or I had to go down this path and hang around the right group of people and do the good things right," said Beale.
Having an elite club in the southern capital has eliminated the need for promising youngsters to leave their family in pursuit of a rugby dream
For many Indigenous and islander teens, separation from family can prematurely end careers.
"Sometimes they do give up Rugby to come back home and be with their family," says Melbourne-born player Lloyd Johanson, who moved to Queensland aged 14.
Kurtley Beale hopes to debut for the Rebels against the Waratahs in round two of the Super 15.
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