Melbourne Rising were the standout side in the inaugural National Rugby Championship, finishing the regular season undefeated and as minor premiers. But just a week later, it was all over. The Rising were ambushed by an impressive Perth Spirit side in the semi final, ending their season prematurely. A year on, Melbourne again find themselves 80 minutes away from the NRC decider, but have taken a very different road to get there. “The side this year is a very different side to last year, there is only a handful of blokes that were part of the squad last year so from our perspective we’re only looking at this year and all that you can do is give yourself an opportunity and that’s what we’ve done, “ Rising coach Zane Hilton told Rugby News. “We’re excited to be here. We know they are a very good team but from our perspective we are just focussing on ourselves, we are just concentrating on what we need to do to be successful.” Although the Rising secured a last minute